1976 Summer Olympics boycotted the Montreal Games when the International Olympic Committee (IOC) refused to ban New Zealand, after the New Zealand national rugby union team had toured South Africa earlier in 1976 in defiance of the United Nations' calls for a sporting embargo. The vote occurred on May 12, 1970, at the 69th IOC Session in Amsterdam, Netherlands. While Los Angeles and Moscow were viewed as the favourites given that they represented the world's two main powers, many of the smaller countries supported Montreal as an underdog and as a relatively neutral site for the games. Los Angeles was eliminated after the
East Africa rugby union team of Wales national rugby union players. The remaining four matches of the tour were in South Africa, who were celebrating the 75th anniversary of the South African Rugby Board. The first of these was played on May 19 against Boland at Wellington which they won 17–6. The test-match against South Africa, played at King's Park, Durban on May 23, was lost 3–24. The final two games were played on May 27 and May 30 against Northern Transvaal at Pretoria (lost 9–22) and the Orange Free State at Bloemfontein (won 14–6). It was the lack of success experienced by the team