1984 england rugby tour south africa

England v South Africa – a history of tough tackling and political turmoil

Lecturer in Humanities , Liverpool John Moores University

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The final of the ninth Rugby World Cup will be contested by England and South Africa on November 2, 2019 – a sporting spectacle that will be celebrated in both countries and further afield. But rugby matches between England and the Springboks have not always been such positive affairs. During apartheid , UK rugby teams were some the biggest violators of the sports boycott against South Africa and faced domestic and international condemnation.

Cricket is often at the forefront of reflections on UK-South African sporting ties during apartheid. This is not particularly surprising, owing to the seven “rebel” tours which took place from 1982 to 1990. These now infamous tours saw stars like Graham Gooch, Mike Gatting and Geoffrey Boycott ignore the international ban on cricketing contact with South Africa. The embargo was brought in after the controversy caused by Basil D’Oliveira’s exclusion from the initial 1968/69 tour, due to his South African and mixed race heritage.

When D'Oliveira was eventually brought into the squad due to injuries to other players (and the domestic controversy his exclusion had caused) the South African government made it clear he would not be welcome and the tour was cancelled. This was followed in 1970 by the forced cancellation of the the South African cricket tour of England due to fierce protests by anti-apartheid activists. Later that year, the International Cricket Council (ICC) implemented a moratorium on contact with South Africa which was maintained until the early 1990s.

But the so-called rebels ignored the ban and were heavily criticised by those pushing for meaningful change in the country. They were even accused by some campaigners of chasing “ blood money ”.

Nazi salutes

But rugby was, in the words of historian Roger Fieldhouse , the “elusive goal” of anti-apartheid activists. Indeed, many of the protestors involved in the campaign against the 1970 cricket tour had cut their activist teeth during the Springboks’ 1969 visit.

Although this tour was successfully completed, several matches had to be called off due to pitch invasions and clashes between protestors, police and “vigilante” rugby fans. In the first match against a University of Oxford side, the Springbok players were taunted by large sections of the crowd with Nazi salutes and chants of “sieg heil”.

One of the main victories of the activists was getting the issue of apartheid back into the public eye in the UK. South African exile Peter Hain, a leading figure in the protests, stated that the press interest in this event was “absolutely crucial to the fantastic growth … of the campaign” . Hain’s position as the public face of the demonstrations made him a target for attack by South African agents. He was sent a letter bomb and there was even an attempt to frame him for robbing a bank.

While the UK’s cricket authorities abided by the ICC’s tour ban, the four home Rugby Football Unions (RFUs) showed little interest in ostracising South Africa. They were unmoved by calls from the Labour government to cancel the 1974 British Lions tour. Even after the 1977 Commonwealth statement (often referred to as the Gleneagles Agreement ) called on all member states to “take every practical step” to stop their citizens competing against South Africans, the RFUs maintained that such contact helped break down barriers and promoted positive changes in the country.

This was a line supported by many right-wing Conservative MPs (who conveniently ignored the fact that rugby was the least integrated sport in South Africa). While Margaret Thatcher’s government upheld the Commonwealth statement, it was not an enthusiastic advocate of the sports boycott. Labour MP and Anti-Apartheid Movement chairperson Robert Hughes even argued that “merely going through the motions of quoting the Gleneagles Agreement is beginning to be regarded as a wink and a nod to go ahead” with fixtures against South African sides.

The most controversial contact under Thatcher’s government was the 1980 Lions tour. This coincided with the US boycott of the Moscow Olympics in response to the USSR’s invasion of Afghanistan. While the Conservative government condemned both the Lions tour and the USSR’s actions, Thatcher personally intervened in support of the Moscow boycott making it clear where her priorities lay.

In May 1984, the England rugby team embarked on what would be the last major tour of South Africa by an international side. This tour, the controversy caused by the decision to grant a UK passport to South African runner Zola Budd , and the British government’s general attitude towards South Africa led to 32 of the 59 eligible countries boycotting the 1986 Edinburgh Commonwealth Games in protest.

Reconciliation through rugby

Despite the criticism the British government received for its limited action against South Africa, its continued ties with Pretoria gave it an important role in the negotiations which brought apartheid to an end. By maintaining economic links with South Africa, Britain was able to place moderate pressure on the National Party to negotiate with the African National Congress (ANC).

The ANC also held certain British officials in high esteem, most notably Robin Renwick . Renwick was the UK ambassador from 1987 to 1991 with whom Nelson Mandela developed a particularly warm relationship. Renwick convinced Mandela that ending the sports boycott would help ease white South African fears of a multiracial future and it was agreed that a Springboks tour of England would be arranged to encourage the white electorate to vote in favour of implementing negotiated reforms in the March 1992 referendum.

Mandela became convinced that sport, and in particular rugby, could play an important role in the post-apartheid reconciliation process. He believed success in the 1995 Rugby World Cup (held in South Africa) was vital in helping to bring the country together. The image of Mandela, proudly wearing a Springboks jersey and cap – in front of a largely white crowd – as he handed the trophy to white captain Francois Pienaar went on to become iconic. Pienaar later realled : “When the final whistle blew, this country changed for ever.”

The journalist and author John Carlin later wrote a book about it which went on to be made into the Hollywood movie, Invictus. Now – 25 years after apartheid’s end – South Africa is still experiencing unrest largely due to gross social inequalities . Carlin hopes the 2019 final can provide a similarly uniting influence . It’s not clear whether an England victory will help unite the country over Brexit. But South Africa has shown the world, there’s always hope.

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1984 England rugby union tour of South Africa

The 1984 England rugby union tour of South Africa was a series of seven matches played by the England national rugby union team in South Africa in May and June 1984. England played seven games, including two test matches against the South Africa national rugby union team . They won four of the seven matches but lost both of the test matches as well as drawing the fixture against Western Province.

England's decision to take part in the tour drew public criticism, and was the subject of covert political pressure, partly due to the prevailing apartheid system in South Africa. The Council of the Rugby Football Union voted in favour of the tour proceeding by 44 votes to 6. Although only Ralph Knibbs of Bristol made opposition to apartheid his reason, many other top players were also unable to tour, and the squad was relatively inexperienced. 10 of the 26 players were uncapped before the tour and 7 gained their first caps in South Africa.

Test matches

Second test, touring party.

• Tour manager : Ron Jacobs
• Team manager: Derek Morgan
• Coach: Dick Greenwood
• Captain: John Scott (Cardiff) 31 caps
• Dusty Hare (Leicester) 23 caps
• Nick Stringer (Wasps) 2 caps
• Mark Bailey (Cambridge University) No caps
• Steve Burnhill (Loughborough Coll) No caps
• Paul Dodge (Leicester) 25 caps
• John Palmer (Bath) No caps
• Tony Swift (Swansea) 5 caps
• David Trick (Bath) 1 cap
• Huw Davies (Wasps) 12 caps
• Richard Hill (Bath) No caps
• John Horton (Bath) 11 caps
• Nick Youngs (Leicester) 6 caps
• Bryan Barley (Wakefield) 3 caps
• Phil Blakeway (Gloucester) 14 caps
• Steve Brain (Coventry) No caps
• Chris Butcher (Harlequins) No caps
• David Cusani (Orrell) No caps
• John Fidler (Gloucester) 2 caps
• Jon Hall (Bath) 3 caps
• Steve Mills (Gloucester) 3 caps
• Gary Pearce (Northampton) 14 caps
• Malcolm Preedy (Gloucester) No caps
• Paul Rendall (Wasps) 1 cap
• Gary Rees (Nottingham) No caps
• John Scott (Cardiff) 31 caps
• Mike Teague (Gloucester) No caps
• Peter Winterbottom (Headingley) 13 caps
• History of rugby union matches between England and South Africa
• " Swing Low, Sweet Chariot "
• Mr. England
• 1984 rugby union tours
• England national rugby union team tours of South Africa
• Rugby union and apartheid
• 1983–84 in English rugby union
• 1984 in South African rugby union
• Sports scandals in England

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1984 England rugby union tour of South Africa

The 1984 England rugby union tour of South Africa was a series of seven matches played by the England national rugby union team in South Africa in May and June 1984. [1]

39 relations: Aluka , Apartheid , Bryan Barley , Danie Craven Stadium , Dick Greenwood , Dusty Hare , East London, Eastern Cape , Ellis Park Stadium , England national rugby union team , EPRU Stadium , Gary Pearce (rugby union) , Gary Rees , History of rugby union matches between England and South Africa , John Scott (rugby union) , Jon Hall (rugby union) , Kings Park Stadium , Malcolm Preedy , Mark Bailey (rugby union) , Mike Teague , Newlands Stadium , Nick Stringer (rugby player) , Nick Youngs , Paul Dodge , Paul Rendall , Peter Winterbottom , Phil Blakeway , Ralph Knibbs , Richard Hill (rugby union, born 1961) , Ron Jacobs (rugby union) , Rugby Football Union , Sasolburg , South Africa national rugby union team , South African African Rugby Board , South African Country Districts XV , Steve Brain , Steve Mills (rugby union) , Test match (rugby union) , Tony Swift , Western Province (rugby team) .

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[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984_England_rugby_union_tour_of_South_Africa

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Rugby Union: England's telling tour of enlightenment: Rowell's squad to discover a changed South Africa on and off the playing field. Steve Bale reports

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SO MANY legitimate doubts have been expressed about whether the England rugby players would actually make it to South Africa that, now that they really are on their way, it seems a thing almost of wonder.

For this they must thank the South African people for making their election a triumph rather than the bloodbath which had given such pause for thought. England's 30 players fly out of Heathrow tonight and arrive tomorrow in a country en fete.

Rugby may be the Afrikaner's religion but it is minuscule in the scale of human affairs compared with the events of the past fortnight in the new, apparently joyous Republic of South Africa. At the same time, it is reasonable to assume that England, by their welcome presence, will add just a little to the joy.

The irony of this is that it was the Rugby Football Union after all others who stuck by South African rugby. England's tour of 1984 was the last to be officially made during the boycott years, and the team retreated rather than simply returned after being laid waste by a Springbok side who had no need of the prolific points-scoring of Naas Botha.

The golden boy was briefly sojourning in American football at the time but after his convenient reinstatement in rugby union he survived long enough to oversee South Africa's return to the fold in 1992. It has not gone as planned by those who claimed the Springboks to be the true world champions at the 1991 World Cup.

Since then the Springboks' record gives them plenty to be modest about: four wins and a draw from 12 Tests. This indicates that England will do rather better this time, even if South African rugby is steadily closing the gap in skill, fitness and attitude that opened during a protracted, emasculating isolation. After two rehabilitatory years, it will be fascinating to see how far they have now travelled.

The Springboks have lost at home to New Zealand, Australia and France, and now come England - meaning they will have reintroduced Test rugby to their impassioned home public against the four strongest teams in the world. It has been a recipe for defeat as well as a crash-course in the modern game.

Tomorrow, England move directly from Johannesburg to Durban for five days at sea level before hitting the heights by playing Orange Free State in their opening match in Bloemfontein. The itinerary has been carefully arranged so as to minimise the effect of altitude but also maximise the experience of entirely unfamiliar South African conditions.

It is hard to imagine a tour to this great rugby country being anything other than an end in itself but the fact is that hanging heavily over the whole thing is next year's World Cup. So Jack Rowell, the new manager, can honestly say: 'This South African trip is a means to an end. It will give us important experience against South Africa, on hard grounds, at altitude.' Though not, one would suggest, necessarily in that order.

For Rowell's England, there could be no better or more productive time to be in South Africa. 'This tour is a unique opportunity to see this country at a very exciting time,' Rowell said, and as he has been a regular visitor on business he should know. The very fact that in post-apartheid South Africa rugby tours are no longer exercises in subterfuge and excuse-making with no positive end result is in itself a cause for celebration.

Even if all this is drooling with a wider significance than the passing and kicking of an oval ball, the England management will be quite content to concentrate on the rugby and getting more from a team whose habit of under-achievement cost them last season's Five Nations' Championship.

It can be done. Geoff Cooke, the manager Rowell has just succeeded, claimed in his final annual report to the RFU: 'The current squad has the potential to be the best ever.' This is lofty ambition, given the manifold successes of the Cooke era.

It is, too, the first time since 1987 that an England tour has not been a Cooke tour, and a decent period of assimilation under the new regime should be allowed for. In any case, England hardly set the outback alight in the southern hemisphere during Cooke's tenure, so it is asking a lot for them to do so to the veld as soon as Rowell's has begun.

At the same time, there is uncertainty in South African rugby about the capability of their team, who will be very different from the motley collection led by Botha in France and England 18 months ago. Francois Pienaar, now the captain, is an unmissable flaxen-haired flanker of the highest quality, but the Springboks are short of a line- out, especially at the tail, and their coach, Ian McIntosh, recognises that as England are strong all the way along this is where the series may be lost.

On the other hand, Springbok role-reversal is such that if a suspect pack can win enough ball the backs will be dangerous on the wide outside. The problem for them then is that Springbok tight forwards are still following, instead of being up with, the modern trend of ultra-mobile ball-players and the likes of Redman, Johnson and Ubogu could give England a decisive advantage.

The party will gain their first first-hand experience of South African rugby when they watch Saturday's Super Ten final between Natal and Queensland at King's Park, the Durban Test ground. The domestic season has only just concluded, so by the time they reach the end of the road at Cape Town, where the second Test will be played on 11 June, they will be ready less for next year's World Cup than for a long, long rest.

Ireland leave today on their first full tour to Australia since 1979, with little prospect of matching their achievements of 15 years ago. Then they won seven of the eight matches, beating the Australians in both Tests. The Irish squad, who are captained by the scrum-half, Michael Bradley, will hope to win half their eight matches, but will be hard pressed to triumph against New South Wales, Queensland and in the Tests in Brisbane and Sydney.

Phil Davies, the lock who badly bruised his shoulder during last Saturday's Schweppes Cup final, last night declared himself fit for Wales's World Cup qualifiers in Portugal and Spain next week.

----------------------------------------------------------------- THE SQUAD ----------------------------------------------------------------- FULL-BACKS Age Caps Paul Hull (Bristol) . . . . . .25 . . . . . . . .0 David Pears (Harlequins) . . . 26. . . . . . . . 4 WINGS Adedayo Adebayo (Bath) . . . . 23. . . . . . . . 0 Damian Hopley (Wasps) . . . . .24 . . . . . . . .0 Rory Underwood (Leicester) . . 30. . . . . . . .65 Tony Underwood (Leicester) . . 25. . . . . . . . 8 CENTRES Mike Catt (Bath) . . . . . . . 22. . . . . . . . 0 Will Carling (Harlequins, capt) . . . . . . . . . . . . .28 . . . . . . . 47 Philip de Glanville (Bath) . . 25. . . . . . . . 7 Stuart Potter (Leicester) . . .26 . . . . . . . .0 OUTSIDE-HALVES Rob Andrew (Wasps) . . . . . . 31. . . . . . . .57 Stuart Barnes (Bath) . . . . . 31. . . . . . . .10 SCRUM-HALVES Steve Bates (Wasps) . . . . . .31 . . . . . . . .1 Dewi Morris (Orrell) . . . . . 29. . . . . . . .17 PROPS Jason Leonard (Harlequins) . . 25. . . . . . . .30 John Mallett (Bath) . . . . . .23. . . . . . . . 0 Graham Rowntree (Leicester) . .23 . . . . . . . .0 Victor Ubogu (Bath) . . . . . .29 . . . . . . . .7 HOOKERS Graham Dawe (Bath) . . . . . . 34. . . . . . . . 4 Brian Moore (Harlequins) . . . 32. . . . . . . .50 LOCKS Martin Bayfield (Northampton) .27 . . . . . . . 14 Martin Johnson (Leicester) . . 24. . . . . . . . 6 Matthew Poole (Leicester) . . .25 . . . . . . . .0 Nigel Redman (Bath) . . . . . .29 . . . . . . . 16 BACK ROW Ben Clarke (Bath) . . . . . . .26 . . . . . . . .9 Lawrence Dallaglio (Wasps) . . 21. . . . . . . . 0 Dean Ryan (Wasps) . . . . . . .27 . . . . . . . .3 Steve Ojomoh (Bath) . . . . . .23 . . . . . . . .2 Dean Richards (Leicester) . . .30 . . . . . . . 36 Tim Rodber (Northampton) . . . 24. . . . . . . . 6 -----------------------------------------------------------------

(Map omitted)

Irish squad and itinerary, Sporting Digest, page 35

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1984 england rugby union tour of south africa.

The 1984 England rugby union tour of South Africa was a series of seven matches played by the England national rugby union team in South Africa in May and June 1984. England played seven games, including two test matches against the South Africa national rugby union team . They won four of the seven matches but lost both of the test matches as well as drawing the fixture against Western Province.

In the face of much criticism, and in spite of covert political pressure, the Rugby Football Union decided that the tour of South Africa should go ahead, but probably with hindsight, in the light of results, later wished that they had not. The RFU Council voted in favour of the tour proceeding by 44 votes to 6. [1] Although only Ralph Knibbs of Bristol made opposition to apartheid his reason, [2] many other top players were also unable to tour, [3] and the squad was relatively inexperienced. 10 of the 26 players were uncapped before the tour and 7 gained their first caps in South Africa.

• 2.1 First test
• 2.2 Second test
• 3.2 Forwards
• 5 References

Test matches

Second test, touring party.

• Tour manager : Ron Jacobs
• Team manager: Derek Morgan
• Coach: Dick Greenwood
• Captain: John Scott (Cardiff) 31 caps
• Dusty Hare (Leicester) 23 caps
• Nick Stringer (Wasps) 2 caps
• Mark Bailey (Cambridge University) No caps
• Steve Burnhill (Loughborough Coll) No caps
• Paul Dodge (Leicester) 25 caps
• John Palmer (Bath) No caps
• Tony Swift (Swansea) 5 caps
• David Trick (Bath) 1 cap
• Huw Davies (Wasps) 12 caps
• Richard Hill (Bath) No caps
• John Horton (Bath) 11 caps
• Nick Youngs (Leicester) 6 caps
• Bryan Barley (Wakefield) 3 caps
• Phil Blakeway (Gloucester) 14 caps
• Steve Brain (Coventry) No caps
• Chris Butcher (Harlequins) No caps
• David Cusani (Orrell) No caps
• John Fidler (Gloucester) 2 caps
• Jon Hall (Bath) 3 caps
• Steve Mills (Gloucester) 3 caps
• Gary Pearce (Northampton) 14 caps
• Malcolm Preedy (Gloucester) No caps
• Paul Rendall (Wasps) 1 cap
• Gary Rees (Nottingham) No caps
• John Scott (Cardiff) 31 caps
• Mike Teague (Gloucester) No caps
• Peter Winterbottom (Headingley) 13 caps
• History of rugby union matches between England and South Africa
• ^ "A little help from Hitler", April 14, 194, The Spectator
• ^ "Where are they now? Bristol Rugby's glorious 1983 John Player Cup final winning side" [ permanent dead link ] , July 11, 2015, The Bristol Post
• ^ "Anti-Apartheid Movement Annual Report on Activities and Developments", 1984, via Aluka

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From The Vaults

Following the resounding success and huge interest generated by the first All Blacks rugby tour to Great Britain and France in 1905-06, there was great anticipation in advance of the arrival of the first rugby tour party from South Africa on "The Gascon" which docked at Southampton on September 19th 1906.

Now colloquially known as the Springboks, South Africa had already hosted three tours of combined teams from Britain in 1891, 1896 and 1903, the latter tour having been arranged following the conclusion of the Boer War in which players had fought on both sides.

The Springboks record had steadily improved over the 15 years and they had won the final test of the three-match series against the British side in 1903 after two closely fought drawn tests.

While the Springbok side that toured the UK in 1906 with the forward Paul Roos as captain was regarded as not as naturally talented and skilful as the 1905 All Blacks, nevertheless a tough and heavy pack supported by hard-running and elusive three-quarters ensured that the rugby played and the interest generated by the tour was similar to that of the All Blacks a year earlier.

South Africa team

By the time the Springboks reached Scotland in the third week of November, they had won all their 15 matches, often by substantial margins, but on November 17th in front of a crowd of 30,000 at Hampden Park, Glasgow, they met their first defeat at the hands of Scotland.

Paul Roos had injured his shoulder in the match against Oxford University and was unable to play, but the Springboks still fielded a very strong side and were the favourites as Scotland had not played since their defeat by England at Inverleith in March.

But heavy rain had fallen prior to the match and the muddy and uneven ground nullified the outstanding Springbok three-quarter line from Stellenbosch University and Western Province.

In front of a passionate crowd Scotland won an unexpected victory 6-0. They scored both their tries in the first half including a superb solo effort by their young winger Kenneth Macleod, and their pack was dominant. South Africa unluckily ended the match with 14 men after their full back Arthur Marsberg was carried off during the second half with a head injury.

A week later the Springboks played Ireland in Belfast in front of 15,000 spectators and narrowly won a tight encounter 15-12. Played in favourable conditions but with a strong breeze, South Africa led 12-3 at half-time and seemed on course for victory. However a tremendous rally by the Ireland side with a memorable length of the field try from their winger Basil Maclear brought the scores level at 12-12 midway through the second half. The Springboks kept attacking and their winger Anton Stegmann scored in the far left corner from a cross-kick by their star centre Japie Krige to win the match ten minutes from time.

The tour moved on to Wales, the current epicentre of rugby in the northern hemisphere. On December 1st 1906 at St Helen's Swansea the Springboks met Wales, the side that had beaten the All Blacks a year earlier under the same captain, the centre Gwyn Nicholls. This was expected to be the Springboks' greatest challenge but the Welsh side was never in contention. After leading 6-0 at half-time, the Springboks scored a further converted try to secure the match comfortably and to universal surprise by 11 points to nil.

Touch Flag, 1906

The final international fixture awaited South Africa a week later at Crystal Palace in London against England in front of 33,000 spectators. Rain fell heavily in the days before the match and the ground surface was intensely slippery.

Neither side was able to secure a winning foothold and the Springboks ended up with only 14 men after their forward William Morkel was injured midway through the second half.

The future Springbok captain Billy Millar in his first international scored the Springbok try after 30 minutes and England equalised with a try in the second half by their Rhodesian winger Freddie Brooks.

There remained 8 tour matches to be played and the Springboks won six of them before suffering a very heavy 0-17 defeat at the hands of a Cardiff side packed with 13 Welsh internationals in front of a huge crowd at Cardiff Arms Park on January 1st 1907. Gwyn Nicholls captained Cardiff in the last major match of his great career and scored the first of Cardiff's four tries.

The Springboks had thus been beaten for only the second time on the tour in 28 matches and there remained only a friendly match in Paris against a highly inexperienced French side won 55-6 before the Springbok tourists set sail for home from Southampton on "The Norman" on January 12th 1907.

The tour had been a great success and the Springboks landed in Cape Town on February 2nd having left a highly favourable impression of the quality of their rugby on the British public.

• My Recollections and Reminiscences - WA Millar (Juta & Co Ltd, Cape Town 1926)
• The Carolin Papers - Laubscher & Nieman
• "The Springboks" History of the Tour 1906-7 - F Neville Piggott (Cricket Press Series, London 1907)
• A Statistical History of Springbok Rugby - Teddy Shnaps (Don Nelson Publishers 1989)

About the Author - A professional musician and arts administrator, Richard Steele has had a life-long love of sport. He has been on the committee of the World Rugby Museum at Twickenham since 2005.

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