[1969] Rugby Classic: Oxford University R.F.C. vs. South Africa Springboks at Twickenham Stadium 1969
- 6 years ago
South Africa’s Springboks 1969-1970 tour to Great Britain and Ireland remains to this day one of the most controversial in the history of rugby union. South Africa’s ruling National Party introduced a system of racial segregation called Apartheid in 1948 and it would run through to 1994 after the release from prison of Nelson Mandela.
International sports tours and matches had become a focal point of cultural identity for white South Africans and the Springboks’ touring party was made up entirely of Afrikaners. They were seen as heroes to the majority of the white ruling classes in South Africa and immediately there were calls for the tour to be scrapped but these were ignored.
The anti-Apartheid movement decided to disrupt the tour with an eye, too, also on the upcoming South African cricket tour scheduled for the summer of 1970.
The scheduled visit of the rugby Springboks to Iffley Road in November 1969 was supposed to celebrate the centenary of the Oxford University Rugby Club but turned into something far more political.
Despite the politics involved, Oxford skipper Chris Laidlaw, already an All Black, doesn’t recall any pressure being put onto the team to pull out of the game. The university didn’t discuss it as such but several prominent academics publicly questioned the wisdom of the Oxford name being associated with a racially selected team,”
The threat of violence from the Stop The Seventy Tour campaign meant that an alternative venue to Iffley Road, Oxford, had to be found. Laidlaw says: “There were doubts the game could be played. There were direct threats to disrupt it if we played at Iffley Road and those were taken seriously. I was asked by the RFU if I thought we could handle this and was obliged to say I didn’t know. “All I did know was that determined protesters from around the UK were intent on stopping it. A few days beforehand the words, ‘stop the tour or else’, were sprayed onto our pitch in weedkiller. It was not until late on the Tuesday evening that it emerged that the game would be played at Twickenham. “The new venue was kept secret but Bob Trevor, a friendly Welsh sports journalist with the London Evening News, had promised to phone us immediately the press were informed. “At 9.30 the night before, our phone rang and his familiar voice said, ‘Twickenham, 3pm’, I immediately relayed the news. “Over 1,000 rushed to the ground and we all purchased tickets, grouping together in the main stand. The match took place under siege. “Midway through I spotted an opening in the police cordon and tried to jump over the spectator fence, but was immediately grabbed, carted out and dumped on the pavement,” he said.
While centre Doug Boyle recalls that the team were not told until almost the very last minute that they would be playing at Twickenham, there had been time to mobilise 500 policemen, who managed to ensure the match was completed.
*The Rugby Paper, September 12, 2014
International sports tours and matches had become a focal point of cultural identity for white South Africans and the Springboks’ touring party was made up entirely of Afrikaners. They were seen as heroes to the majority of the white ruling classes in South Africa and immediately there were calls for the tour to be scrapped but these were ignored.
The anti-Apartheid movement decided to disrupt the tour with an eye, too, also on the upcoming South African cricket tour scheduled for the summer of 1970.
The scheduled visit of the rugby Springboks to Iffley Road in November 1969 was supposed to celebrate the centenary of the Oxford University Rugby Club but turned into something far more political.
Despite the politics involved, Oxford skipper Chris Laidlaw, already an All Black, doesn’t recall any pressure being put onto the team to pull out of the game. The university didn’t discuss it as such but several prominent academics publicly questioned the wisdom of the Oxford name being associated with a racially selected team,”
The threat of violence from the Stop The Seventy Tour campaign meant that an alternative venue to Iffley Road, Oxford, had to be found. Laidlaw says: “There were doubts the game could be played. There were direct threats to disrupt it if we played at Iffley Road and those were taken seriously. I was asked by the RFU if I thought we could handle this and was obliged to say I didn’t know. “All I did know was that determined protesters from around the UK were intent on stopping it. A few days beforehand the words, ‘stop the tour or else’, were sprayed onto our pitch in weedkiller. It was not until late on the Tuesday evening that it emerged that the game would be played at Twickenham. “The new venue was kept secret but Bob Trevor, a friendly Welsh sports journalist with the London Evening News, had promised to phone us immediately the press were informed. “At 9.30 the night before, our phone rang and his familiar voice said, ‘Twickenham, 3pm’, I immediately relayed the news. “Over 1,000 rushed to the ground and we all purchased tickets, grouping together in the main stand. The match took place under siege. “Midway through I spotted an opening in the police cordon and tried to jump over the spectator fence, but was immediately grabbed, carted out and dumped on the pavement,” he said.
While centre Doug Boyle recalls that the team were not told until almost the very last minute that they would be playing at Twickenham, there had been time to mobilise 500 policemen, who managed to ensure the match was completed.
*The Rugby Paper, September 12, 2014