Rugby union in South Africa Blacks tour of South Africa attracted international condemnation and 28 countries boycotted the 1976 Summer Olympics in protest. The next year, in 1977, the Commonwealth signed the Gleneagles Agreement, which discouraged any sporting contact with South Africa. A planned 1979 Springbok tour of France was stopped by the French government, which announced that it was inappropriate for South African teams to tour France, and after the 1981 Springbok tour of New Zealand went ahead in defiance of the Gleneagles Agreement, South Africa was banned by the International Rugby Board from international competition until such time as apartheid ended. From 1990
2012 England rugby union tour of South Africa 2012 England rugby union tour of South Africa In June 2012, the England national rugby union team went on a three-test tour against the South Africa national rugby union team, known colloquially and referred to hereafter as the "Springboks". This was one of a series of mid-year tours in 2012 by northern teams to be hosted by southern hemisphere nations. The series was among the first to mark a return to the format of traditional tours, after the International Rugby Board (IRB) decided in 2010 to revive the concept, which could include mid-week matches against representative or club sides. This