1976 Springbok Test Controversy
The 1976 All Blacks tour of apartheid South Africa that triggered the Montreal Olympic boycott.
In 1976 the All Blacks toured South Africa with the blessing of the newly elected New Zealand Prime Minister, Rob Muldoon. Twenty-five African nations, together with Afghanistan, Burma, Guyana, Iraq, Sri Lanka and Syria, protested by boycotting the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, arguing that the tour gave tacit support to the apartheid regime.
Quick Facts
- Year
- 1976
- Host
- South Africa
- Māori players
- Bill Bush
- Sid Going
- Kent Lambert
- Bill Osborne
- Tane Norton
Lore & Background
The five Māori players on the tour, Bill Bush, Sid Going, Kent Lambert, Bill Osborne and Tane Norton, and the ethnic-Samoan Bryan Williams were offered honorary white status in South Africa. Bush has said he was deliberately provocative toward the apartheid regime while there.
More in Club History
Elsewhere in New Zealand All Blacks
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