The Springboks have defended hooker Bongi Mbonambi, as World Rugby investigates alleged discriminatory language towards England's Tom Curry.
In the wake of the Rugby World Cup semi-final between the two nations, Curry claims to have been racially abused by Mbonambi during the Springboks' 16-15 victory.
Curry, 25, was heard telling referee Ben O'Keeffe he'd been called a "white c***" by the South African front rower, and told not to respond.
England have lodged a formal complaint with World Rugby, who are reviewing the incident.
Should Mbonambi be banned, he would miss the Rugby World Cup final against the All Blacks on Sunday (NZ time).
However, it has been postulated that Mbonambi actually said "wit kant", which is Afrikaans for white side, referring to the colour of England's jerseys.
As far as the Springboks are concerned, though, no comment will be made about the incident itself, but assistant coach Daan Human went to great lengths to defend Mbonambi's character.
"From our side, I really can't comment," he said. "He had a perfect training this afternoon.
"Nothing else came out, so I can't really comment on that... I can't comment, because I wasn't on the field. I wasn't even aware of it. He's a great character.
"He's down to earth, a very humble guy, and a guy I'd love to have in our team.
"That's all I can say about him, he's a great guy."
A ban for Mbonambi would be catastrophic for the Springboks, with the 32-year-old being the only specialist hooker in South Africa's squad.
But Human added South Africa have two other options to deputise at hooker, should Mbonambi be unavailable.
Meanwhile, the All Blacks say they are paying no attention to the ongoing furore, as they prepare to face the Springboks in Sunday morning's final.
"No, we're not really following it as such," said defence coach Scott McLeod. "I learned about that this morning.
"It's something that World Rugby will deal with, I understand the process is still ongoing.
"If anything came of that for him, I imagine it would be a massive dent for them. He's a leader of the team. When Siya [Kolisi] goes off, he becomes the captain.
"So I imagine that that would really impact them."
