Following the Lions Super Rugby win over the Brumbies at Ellis Park on Saturday, SuperSport presenter Ashwin Willemse stormed off the set of the post-match analysis after an apparent disagreement with fellow panelists Nick Mallett and Naas Botha.
Though at this stage it is not clear what led to the incident, Willemse appeared to voice his grievances with Botha and Mallett live on air before walking off the set.
“I played this game for a long time, like all of us here. As a player, I was labelled a quota player for a long time. I’ve worked hard to earn my respect in this game, so I’m not going to be patronised by two players who played in Apartheid - a segregated era - who come and want to undermine me,” said Willemse as the broadcast cut from the final scenes from Ellis Park and moved straight into the scheduled post-match analysis.
“I can’t work with people who undermine other people. So you [Botha and Mallet] can sit and laugh about it, but you know exactly what happened. I don’t mind, I’m glad it happened so people can see, because you two sit here …” said the 36-year-old former Springbok who promptly walked off the set.
Following the incident, SuperSport said it would take the matter further.
“SuperSport is aware of the on-air incident and is looking into the matter,” the broadcaster said.
- African News Agency
