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1971 South Africa rugby union tour of Australia

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The 1971 South Africa rugby union tour of Australia was a controversial six-week rugby union tour by the Springboks to Australia. Anti-apartheid protests were held all around the country.[1] The tour is perhaps most infamous for a state of emergency being declared in Queensland.
In total, around 700 people were arrested whilst the Springboks were on tour.

Overview

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The first games were then played in Adelaide and Perth, which were disrupted mainly by youth-led protesters. The third match was set to take place in Melbourne. A 5,000 strong crowd, made up mostly of university students, gathered in the streets of Melbourne to march on Olympic Park in protest.[2] Police had set up a wall of units around the stadium, around 650 policemen many armed with batons and some on horseback.[2]

In Sydney, several people, including the Secretary of the New South Wales Builders Labourers Federation, attempted to saw down the goal posts at the Sydney Cricket Ground prior to the match.[3] In addition, a gigantic anti-apartheid effigy was hung from the Sydney Harbour Bridge but subsequently cut down.[3]

Queensland premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen declared a month-long state of emergency.[4][5] Protests at the Tower Mill Motel where the South African team were staying were responded to by police.[6] The game was instead played at the Exhibition Ground, being moved from its original venue at Ballymore, as it was deemed easier to erect barricades at the Exhibition Ground.[7] A two-metre chain wire fence was erected to separate players and spectators, backed up by police in full riot gear standing ten meters apart and facing the spectators. [8]

According to Meredith Burgmann and Peter McGregor, both leading firebrands, the rugby tour was a crucial target but to stop the summer's cricketing visit was the ultimate goal.[9][10] They were successful in this regard as the cricket tour was called off due to security reasons.

Seven players of the Australia national rugby union team – Jim Boyce, Tony Abrahams, Paul Darveniza, Terry Forman, Barry McDonald, James Roxburgh and Bruce Taafe – who had previously toured South Africa for three months in 1969 and seen the effects of the "ruthless" apartheid system "both in everyday life in South Africa and within the rugby stadiums themselves", declared "their opposition to the continuation of sporting ties with the South African Republic".[11] Dubbed the "Rugby Seven" and the "Anti-Apartheid Seven", their non-violent action was an "unprecedented stance in refusing to play against the Springboks".[12]

The anti-apartheid protests had influenced the cancellation of the South African cricket team tour in Australia in 1971–72.

Fixtures

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Scores and results list South Africa's points tally first.[13]

Opposing Team F A Date Venue
Western Australia Western Australia 44 18 26 June 1971 Perth
South Australia South Australia 43 0 30 June 1971 Adelaide
Victoria (state) Victoria 50 0 3 July 1971 Melbourne
New South Wales Sydney 21 12 6 July 1971 Sydney
New South Wales New South Wales 25 3 10 July 1971 Sydney
New South Wales New South Wales Country 19 3 13 July 1971 Orange
 Australia 19 11 17 July 1971 SCG, Sydney
Australian Capital Territory Australian Capital Territory 34 3 21 July 1971 Canberra
Queensland Queensland 33 14 24 July 1971 Brisbane
Australia Junior Wallabies 31 12 27 July 1971 Brisbane
 Australia 14 6 31 July 1971 Brisbane Exhibition Ground, Brisbane
Queensland Queensland Country 45 14 3 August 1971 Toowoomba
 Australia 18 6 7 August 1971 SCG, Sydney

Touring group

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Test matches

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South Africa won the Test Series 3–0

  • 17 July 1971 – Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, South Africa 19–11 Australia

South Africa: McCallum, Nomis, Cronje, Jansen, Viljoen, Visagie, J Viljoen, Du Plessis, Ellis, Greyling, Williams, Du Preez, Marais (c), Van Wyk and Sauermann

Tries by Hannes Viljoen, Joggie Viljoen and Jan Ellis. Ian McCallum 2 conversions and penalty and Piet Visagie drop goal.

Australia Captain Greg Davis

  • 31 July 1971 – Brisbane Exhibition Ground, Brisbane, South Africa 14–6 Australia

First try: Piet Visagie

  • 7 August 1971 – Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney. South Africa 18–6 Australia

See also

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References

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  1. ^ People's History of Australia (9 April 2020). "People's History of Australia Podcast. Episode 3 – Racists go home! Protesting the 1971 Springbok tour of Australia". The Commons Social Change Library. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Mild in the streets". The Age. 25 April 2005.
  3. ^ a b "Focus on Springbok tour on eve of anniversary - Media @ UOW". media.uow.edu.au. Archived from the original on 30 March 2016.
  4. ^ "The Guardian". Archived from the original on 25 August 2006. Retrieved 12 June 2006.
  5. ^ myPolice (14 February 2017). "FROM the VAULT - Springbok Tour of Queensland". Museum. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
  6. ^ "50th Anniversary of the 'Tower Mill' Protests | State Library Of Queensland". www.slq.qld.gov.au. 23 July 2021. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
  7. ^ "Brisbane Exhibition Ground - Austadiums". www.austadiums.com.
  8. ^ "Sport at the Exhibition Grounds - EPA/QPWS". Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 9 August 2007.
  9. ^ Burghmann 2008.
  10. ^ James Middleton, Breaking the rules: the campaign in Australia against apartheid, Greenleft Weekly, 17 November 1993. Retrieved 30 July 2024. This was an extensive interview conducted by Middleton with McGregor from the documentary Political Football, which concerned the anti-apartheid protests in Australia during the early 1970s.
  11. ^ Wallabies hooker among ‘Anti-Apartheid Seven’ was eminent neurologist, The Sydney Morning Herald, 13 June 2024. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
  12. ^ Spiro Zavos, How the Wallabies battled against apartheid in South Africa, The Sydney Morning Herald, 30 September 2016. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
  13. ^ "The 1971 Springbok tour". blogs.sport24.co.za. 24 December 2011. Archived from the original on 4 July 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2013.

Further reading

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