1981 South Africa rugby union tour of New Zealand and the United States 1981 South Africa rugby union tour of New Zealand and the United States The 1981 South African rugby tour (known in New Zealand as the Springbok Tour, and in South Africa as the Rebel Tour) polarised opinions and inspired widespread protests across New Zealand. The controversy also extended to the United States, where the South African rugby team continued their tour after departing New Zealand. Apartheid had made South Africa an international pariah, and other countries were strongly discouraged from having sporting contacts with it. Rugby union was (and is) an extremely popular sport in New Zealand, and the South
History of the South Africa national rugby union team but did not do so well in the Tests—losing all three. In 1963 the touring Wallabies beat the Springboks in consecutive Tests, the first team to do so since the 1896 British team. Wales toured South Africa and played several games and one Test in 1964—their first overseas tour. They lost the Test against South Africa in Durban 24–3, their biggest defeat in 40 years. At the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) annual general meeting that year, the outgoing WRU President D. Ewart Davies declared that "it was evident from the experience of the South African Tour that a much more