England rugby player, Billy Vunipola, led national players who chose not to kneel for BLM before Six Nations matches.
Seven English rugby union players, including Billy Vulnipola, and all but four of the Scottish team, chose not to kneel before their match last week.
The players chose to remain standing during the show of support for the anti-racism movement, which has proven controversial as some believe it has been infiltrated by far-left activists with their own agenda. The Prime Minister has recently ordered a review into this.
Vunipola’s reasoning for this was that elements of the Black Lives Matter protests clash with his religious and moral beliefs.
On ‘The Good, The Bad & The Rugby’ podcast, Vunipola said: “They were burning churches and Bibles. I can’t support that. Even though I am a person of colour, I’m still more a person of, I guess, Jesus.”
A Rugby Football Union spokesperson has said that: “England’s men’s and women’s players and match officials are given the choice on how and if they wish to make gestures to help raise awareness for diversity and inclusion before the start of each game.”
Like Vunipola, eight of Sale’s South African starters decided against taking a knee last Friday, leading the South African Sports Minister Nathi Mthethwa to call for an inquiry from the union. The former Harlequins and Namibia back-row Renaldo Bothma hit back at Mthethwa, however. On social media, he wrote: “I will never take a knee to anyone else than GOD! Where are all these ministers when we need to take a knee for farm murders in South Africa and take action against corruption?”
I will never take a knee to anyone else than GOD! Where are all these ministers when we need to take a knee for farm murders in South Africa and take action against corruption? We all can decide what we want to do! NOBODY HAS ANY RIGHT TO FORCE SOMEONE TO GO ON THEIR KNEES! https://t.co/THjCS4tdSa
— Renaldo Bothma (@renaldobothma) August 18, 2020
