Apartheid-era South Africa and the Olympics of the Olympic rings at the South African Open Games. IOC members voted to expel SANOC, by 35 to 28, with 3 abstentions. The conference coincided with a cancelled South African cricket tour of England and the banning of South Africa from the Davis Cup. South Africa was the indirect cause of the 1976 Olympic boycott. A New Zealand rugby union tour of South Africa prompted African countries to demand that the New Zealand Olympic team be excluded from the games. The IOC demurred on the grounds that rugby union was not an Olympic sport and the New Zealand Rugby
1906–07 South Africa rugby union tour of Europe in 1906 to commemorate the tour. The 1906 Springboks were "the first national team to utilize the 3–4–1 formation". The tour was extremely successful for the South Africans which helped garner respect from the Northern Hemisphere teams and established South Africa as a formidable rugby playing country. In the tests played the team would only lose to Scotland and drew against England. The South African defeat of Wales was a shock to many critics and ended the international careers of some of the greatest Welsh players of the time. Out of 29 matches played, South Africa won 26, lost two