The All Blacks and Touring South Africa
I was introduced to sport when I was 8 years old in 1974 by watching Ali fight Foreman and through many of the thrilling events of the Christchurch Commonwealth Games.
The following year I watched the 1975 All Blacks play the “water-polo” test at Eden Park against Scotland – and was hooked.
Most will remember that up until August 1995 rugby was amateur. So, the All Blacks that travelled in 1976 – with 24 games – going from June 30 until September 18 had a massive amount of time off work. The current “greatest rivalry” tour has seven games for full professionals. The 1976 squad had 30 players – with a couple of tour replacements later. The current squad has 44 players. In 1976 there were no “subs” – you only came off the field if near death.
We did not have much reading material in my home growing up so I devoured the tour magazine – from memory sponsored by Rothmans – and can name the tour squad from memory due to my attention as a ten year old. Bay of Plenty stalwarts still say the Greg Rowlands should have gone and would have won the series as NZ lacked a true goal kicker – and Kit Fawcett only promised to “score more off the field than on it.” Many people with huge future contributions were on the tour – Laurie Mains, Sir Bryan Williams, Grant Batty, Bruce Robertson, Bill Osborne, Sid Going, Andy Leslie, Ian Kirkpatrick and so on.
One thing to keep in mind is that any Maori/Samoan player (e.g. Bee Gee, Bill Bush) travelled as “honorary whites” with the permission of the South African government.
The All Blacks lost the test series 3 – 1. They also lost three provincial games. I watched all tests live on our little tv (go Jo Morgan) and listened to as many as were available on the radio in the middle of the night.
It is somewhat stunning to note that just 5 years later no player from that tour was playing the infamous final test at Eden Park in 1981.
The 1986 Cavaliers tour is another drama between the two nations.
1996 is famous in rugby circles for being the first time the All Blacks won a test series in South Africa. Officially it was 2 – 1 as South Africa had, somewhat secretly, designated the first test played as the tri-nations final only. NZ won that too, so let’s call it 3 – 1 and note it was the first time neutral referees were used. Recently Sean Fitzpatrick rated it as a greater achievement than winning the 1987 World Cup.
Until recently I did not realise that there had not been an All Blacks tour to South Africa for 30 years.
The importance of rugby to our nation is an ongoing debate but events like this do capture the attention of many and can bring a sense of unity that few other things do.
As an aside:
A few years ago we had Precious McKenzie come to speak at I school I ran. He was incredibly engaging. 4’9″ and still with so much energy (he is now 90yo). For those that don’t know of him. He was born in Durban. Despite being the best weightlifter in South Africa in his class he was not selected for the 1958 Empire Games or the 1960 Olympics as he was “coloured”. South Africa said they would select him for the Rome Olympics but he had to do all things seperately from the white members of the team. He turned down the “offer” and took his family to Britain. He represented England at three Commonwealth Game (66, 70, 74) and won gold in each. He represented Britain at three Olympics (68, 72, 76). The he came to NZ and represented us at the 1978 Commonwealth games, when, when 42 years old, and won gold.
We thought he would speak for 30minutes. He spoke for 75minutes and the children were so fascinated that they didn’t move a muscle – except when he asked.