South Africa national rugby union team ahead, and the Springboks won by three Tests to one, but coming shortly after the Soweto riots the tour attracted international condemnation. Twenty eight countries boycotted the 1976 Summer Olympics in protest, and in 1977 the Gleneagles Agreement discouraged any Commonwealth sporting contact with South Africa. In response to the growing pressure, the segregated South African rugby unions merged in 1977. A planned 1979 Springbok tour of France was blocked by the French government. The Lions toured South Africa in 1980, losing the first three tests before winning the last one. The 1981 Springbok tour of New Zealand went ahead
South Africa African XI South Africa African XI The South Africa African XI was a cricket team that played several matches in South Africa between 1973 and 1976, including two List A matches in the Gillette Cup. South Africa was boycotted by the other cricket-playing nations in the early 1970s owing to the government's apartheid policy. The formation of the South Africa African XI – which consisted entirely of players classified as "African" under the apartheid laws – and its matches against visiting international teams and domestic teams were part of attempts by the South African cricket authorities to break down racial barriers in