Confusion over Madosh Tambwe's Bok eligibility as parties send out differing messages

Confusion reigns over Madosh Tambwe's eligibility for the Springboks following differing messages from the two respective camps.

The Bulls winger, who'll be making his final appearance for the franchise in Saturday's United Rugby Championship (URC) final before taking up a contract with French club Bordeaux, has been in excellent form during the current campaign and has, unsurprisingly, been touted for higher honours.

But national coach Jacques Nienaber poured cold water on any immediate call-up, simply because - according to SA Rugby's information - Tambwe hasn't been granted South African citizenship.

"Madosh is not eligible. He's not a South African citizen, and until he gets citizenship, we can't select him," the Springbok mentor said.

"Same with the two Tshituka brothers, Vince and Emmanuel. There's a lot of speculation about Madosh and the Tshitukas. The reason why they can't get selected is because they are not South African citizens. They need to get citizenship."I know the Tshitukas are busy with the process - I'm not sure if Madosh is, so that you must find out from the Bulls."

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Born in Kinshasa, Tambwe looked visibly bemused when informed of the comment during a media opportunity on Tuesday.

"I don't know about the SA citizenship. All I know is that last week, I was in Ireland with the Bulls team and my passport had the South African coat of arms on it so I don't know what more to say to that."

Asked to clarify about having a SA passport, the 24-year-old said: "Yes".

However, Sport24 understands that while the Bulls aren't "100% sure" about Tambwe's status in terms of obtaining official citizenship, he is indeed not eligible