Not surprised.

Courtney Lawes has come out in defence of England teammate Tom Curry following his claims that he was racially insulted by Springboks hooker Bongi Mbonambi.

World Rugby investigated the incident, but the governing body found that there was “insufficient evidence” to back up the England flanker’s claim that he was called a “white c**t” by Mbonambi midway through the first half of their semi-final clash.

Mbonambi slammed Curry following South Africa’s World Cup win, branding him unprofessional, and claiming that the England flanker misinterpreted him as he was in fact speaking Afrikaans.

But Curry then refused to back down on his claim, stating “I heard what I heard” in an interview with the Daily Mail, and now Lawes has had his say in an interview on  The Good, The Bad and The Rugby podcast.

“I do because he will know it was said to him,” Lawes said when asked if he felt Curry had been let down.

“We’re not stupid. If people are running around saying ‘wit kant’ or whatever they’re saying has been said, that’s completely different to when someone looks in your eyes and tells you something.”

Lawes also confirmed that there have been other incidents with South Africa involving Curry “and other lads in the team.”

He added that he wouldn’t be surprised if the racial slur was indeed used in the semi-final.

“I don’t know what’s happened, I wasn’t there at the time, I didn’t see it and I didn’t know what was going on until a day later when it all came out,” Lawes said.

“Look, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if that was the case.

“I’m not saying it is, I’m not saying it isn’t, but I wouldn’t be surprised.

“Regardless, Cuz (Tom Curry) has a right to say what has happened.”