1960 New Zealand rugby union tour of Australia and South Africa

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1960 New Zealand rugby union tour of Australia and South Africa
Summary
PWDL
Total
31 250204
Test match
05020102
Opponent
PWDL
Flag of South Africa (1928-1994).svg  South Africa
4 1 1 2
Flag of Southern Rhodesia (1924-1964).svg Rhodesia [1]
1 1 0 0

The 1960 New Zealand rugby union tour of South Africa, was a series of rugby union matches played by the New Zealand national rugby union team (the All Blacks) in South Africa and Rhodesia.

Contents

It was a very controversial tour, because the South African authorities imposed the exclusion of Māori players from the team. This racist policy created much controversy in New Zealand. (See Halt All Racist Tours and History of rugby union matches between New Zealand and South Africa.)

Later tours

New Zealand Rugby Union then refused any other tour for the succeeding ten years until Māori and Samoan player participation was accepted in 1970. On that occasion South African authorities, gave them the title of "Honorary Whites", but controversies remained. [2] [3] In 1976, all the African countries boycotted the Olympic Games in protest at the All Blacks' tour of South Africa.

Then, the 1981 Springboks' tour, was contested by a large part of New Zealand public opinion, with riots and demonstrations.

In 1985 public opinion convinced NZRU to cancel another tour in South Africa. Only with the end of apartheid, in 1992 did the controversy end.

Also outside the political troubles, the results of the tour weren't good in any case for All Blacks, that lost the series with only a victory and a draw in the four-match series against the Springboks

Results

In Australia

No test match was played.

Scores and results list All Blacks' points tally first.

Opposing TeamForAgainstDateVenueStatus
New South Wales 27014 May 1960 Moore Park, SydneyTour match
Queensland 32314 May 1960 Moore Park, SydneyTour match
Victoria-South Australia30617 May 1960 Wade Park, OrangeTour match
New South Wales Country 38617 May 1960 Wade Park, OrangeTour match
Western Australia 57021 May 1960 Leederville Oval, PerthTour match

In Africa

Scores and results list All Blacks' points tally first.

Opposing TeamForAgainstDateVenueStatus
Northern Universities45628 May 1960 Olen Park, PotchefstroomTour match
Natal 6631 May 1960 Kings Park, DurbanTour match
Griqualand West 2194 June 1960 De Beers Stadium, KimberleyTour match
SW Africa 2738 June 1960 South West Stadium, WindhoekTour match
Boland 16011 June 1960 Boland Stadium, WellingtonTour match
West. Prov. Universities14315 June 1960 Newlands, Cape TownTour match
Northern Transvaal 27318 June 1960 Loftus Versfeld, PretoriaTour match
South Africa 01325 June 1960 Ellis Park, Johannesburg Test Match
A Rhodesian XV13929 June 1960 Kitwe Tour match
Rhodesia 29142 July 1960Slamis Stadium, Salisbury Test Match
Orange Free State 896 July 1960 Free State Stadium, BloemfonteinTour match
Junior Springboks 2069 July 1960 Kings Park, DurbanTour match
Eastern Province 16313 July 1960 Boet Erasmus, Port ElizabethTour match
Western Province 20816 July 1960 Newlands, Cape TownTour match
SW District18619 July 1960 Oudtshoorn Tour match
South Africa 11323 July 1960 Newlands, Cape Town Test Match
Central Universities211227 July 1960 Border RU Ground, East LondonTour match
Eastern Transvaal 11630 July 1960 PAM Brink, SpringsTour match
SA Combined Services383 August 1960 Loftus Versfeld, PretoriaTour match
Transvaal 1936 August 1960 Ellis Park, JohannesburgTour match
Western Transvaal 2839 August 1960 Olen Park, PotchefstroomTour match
South Africa 111113 August 1960 Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein Test Match
North-Eastern Districts15617 August 1960 Aliwal North Tour match
Border 30320 August 1960 Border RU Ground, East LondonTour match
South Africa 3827 August 1960 Boet Erasmus, Port Elizabeth Test Match
A Transvaal XV933 September 1960 Ellis Park, JohannesburgTour match

Cultural reaction

The Howard Morrison Quartet released "My Old Man's an All-Black", a parody of My Old Man's a Dustman, which noted the absence of Māori players from the touring side:

Oh, my old man’s an All Black,
He wears the silver fern,
But his mates just couldn’t take him
So he’s out now for a turn.
Fi Fi Fo Fum, there’s no Horis in this scrum. [4]

American satirist Tom Lehrer was touring New Zealand in April 1960 when Prime Minister Walter Nash officially refused to intervene in the New Zealand Rugby Football Union's plans to tour South Africa with only white players. On introducing his own song "Fight Fiercely, Harvard" in the Auckland Town Hall, he said "At this juncture of the evening's symposium, I wish to pay tribute to the New Zealand Rugby Football Union--for not allowing a little thing like human dignity to interfere with the great principles of the game." [5] He would go on to pen original lyrics on the subject, which were published in the Auckland Star :

When the early missionaries first brought Rugby to New Zealand,
It became the state religion right away,
And to the ten commandments has been added an eleventh,
And it says: No matter what -- thou shalt play!

CHORUS:
Oh, Mr Nash, why so rash?
Is the Rugby Union so hard up for cash?
Though you talk about the Maori
In your phrases sweet and flow'ry
I'm afraid you've missed the point, Mr Nash.

When the team goes to South Africa, we all must act politely,
So to all their local problems, let's be mute.
It might be a friendly gesture as a token of affection
If we brought along some blacks for them to shoot.

CHORUS: Oh, Mr Nash, etc.

No, it doesn't really matter what New Zealand may have lost,
As long as Kiwi Rugby players are supreme,
And just think how glad they'd make us if they came back with the title
Of the World's Greatest Non-Pigmented Team!

CHORUS: Oh, Mr Nash, etc. [6] [7]

Notes

  1. not officially recognized by NZRU as a test match
  2. Reid, Neil (9 May 2010). "Bee Gee: I never felt I was an honorary white". Sunday News. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  3. Brown, Michael (18 April 2010). "Rugby: Once was hatred". The New Zealand Herald . Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  4. "My old man's an All Black". New Zealand History. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
  5. Berry, John (1964). Seeing Stars - A Study of Show Folk in New Zealand. Wellington: Seven Seas. p. 76.
  6. Berry, John (16 April 1960). ""Oh, Mr Nash," says Tom Lehrer". Auckland Star.
  7. Berry, John (1964). Seeing Stars - A Study of Show Folk in New Zealand. Wellington: Seven Seas. p. 77.

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