Springbok star on RWC death threats: I was told I’d be killed!
Springbok star on RWC death threats: I was told I’d be killed!
There was intense indignation and derogatory remarks sent towards the South African squad after the Springboks defeated the host nation, France, in the Rugby World Cup quarterfinals.
Specifically, Bok captain Rassie Erasmus disclosed evidence of death threats made against Cobus Reinach and his young family, exposing the intolerable degree of hostility the Springboks had to endure.
Two hateful letters were sent to Reinach, a rugby player for Montpellier in France’s club league. The first message was addressed to him, while the second included a picture of the Springbok’s child.
The one death threat messages roughly translated to the following: “Dirty son of a bitch, I hope that when you return to Montpellier you get murdered by French people on the ground, gang of thieves easy to win a title by cheating.” The text which include a photo of Reinach junior reads: “Go die.”
The Springbok scrumhalf has since spoken out about the abuse received
The important Springbok player for the past several years, Reinach, has now spoken up about the horrifying assault he endured and how it affected his family.
He told L’Equipe, “I got a lot of texts when I indicated after the (quarterfinal) game that the referee had been good under duress. “The first note explicitly addressed me, threatening to kill me if I returned to Montpellier.
Then my family began to worry about it. Individuals hiding behind keyboards have the ability to harm your family. This obviously crosses the line because they aren’t the ones playing against you or making choices on the field.
“I don’t want to dwell on it because the French have been incredible, but this online harassment, which is from a minority, must stay out of this game,” he said. These people who told me not to come back to Montpellier, that I was going to die, that I was a cheat.”
READ THE DEATH THREATS MADE AGAINST REINACH BELOW:
Rassie Erasmus accompanied a post on his own X (Twitter) account with the screenshots of the death threats, saying, “This is obviously not true.” Regretfully, Cobus Reinach was the target of these threats! When anything like that is stated about their son, it hurts and annoys parents! But we’re not going to complain—we’re just going to go on! They don’t know what we know.