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Former players respond to Willemse walkout

Cape Town - The drama that took place on the SuperSport set on Saturday night has drawn a massive response on social media.

READ: Drama on SuperSport set as Willemse walks off!

The incident happened when SuperSport analyst Ashwin Willemse walked off a live set following an apparent disagreement with fellow presenters Nick Mallett and Naas Botha following the Lions' 42-24 win over the Brumbies at Ellis Park in Johannesburg.

While it's not clear what led to Willemse's obvious unhappiness, the former Lions and Springbok wing spoke of being labelled a "quota player" and refused to be "patronised by two individuals who played in an apartheid/segregated era".

The backlash on social media has been massive, with hundreds coming to Willemse's defence and supporting his actions. 

One of those was Thando Manana, who said he was "so glad" that Willemse had "put Nick Mallett and Naas Botha" in their place. 

Another Springbok, Tonderai Chavhanga, called out those who were giving Willemse a hard time on Twitter.

Chavhanga called Willemse an "upstanding rolemodel", saying that "people must not jump to conclusions before knowing why he reacted the way he did". 

Gio Aplon, who played 17 Tests for the Boks between 2010 and 2012, saluted Willemse by saying that he "wanted to be treated fairly and equally by his counterparts, nothing more or nothing less".

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