A Political Game

Bad enough having to play team officially designated New Zealand Natives but spectacle thousands Europeans frantically cheering on band of coloured men to defeat members of own race was too much for Springboks who frankly disgusted.

– South African reporter Charles Blackett, in a 1921 telegram

Even I was surprised by the level of opposition to the 1981 tour, the level of the opposition, the intensity of the opposition, the absolutely determined nature of that opposition to the tour.

– Trevor Richards, Anti-Apartheid Activist

They had passion that Wales didn’t have, Australia didn’t have. They had greater passion than us. And all the stuff I’d been told…I lived, and I was brought up as a kid, to fear the Boks.

– Stu Wilson, All Black 1977-83