1992 South Africa vs New Zealand rugby union match

South Africa's first rugby test match since the end of apartheid 1992 South Africa vs New Zealand rugby match Ellis Park Stadium.jpg 200 1992 New Zealand rugby union tour of Australia and South Africa South Africa RSA 1982 30px 24 New Zealand NZL 30px 27 15 August 1992 Ellis Park Stadium Johannesburg, South Africa 72,000 In 1992, the South Africa national team, the Springboks, played a rugby union test match against New Zealand, the All Blacks. The match was played at Ellis Park Stadium in Johannesburg on 15 August 1992. It became known as the Return Test as it was South Africa's first test match since the International Rugby Football Board (IRFB) had banned them due to apartheid. History Between 1984 and 1992, South Africa were isolated from playing test rugby due to the country's apartheid policies, highlighted by campaigns like Halt All Racist Tours. They had played a number of unofficial tests against rebel teams such as the New Zealand Cavaliers but these were condemned by rugby's organising bodies and players that took part in them often received bans from national selection.http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10750033 The rebel rugby tour: Boots and all New Zealand Herald 2011-09-07 2016-02-28 In 1990, President F. W. de Klerk started negotiations to end apartheid in South Africa with Nelson Mandela's African National Congress (ANC). During negotiation, the white South African Rugby Board and the non-racial South African Rugby Union merged to create the South African Rugby Football Union.Sakhela Buhlungu State of the Nation: South Africa 2007 A&C Black 1997 0-7185-0072-5 414 Rugby at the time was seen by many black South Africans as a symbol of white supremacy. The ANC demanded that the new SARFU improve development of black players. This was because the Springboks team consisted solely of white players at the time, though black players were eligible for selection for the Springboks following the merger of the two governing bodies.Black 1998 8 Following the yes vote in the South African apartheid referendum in March 1992, the IRFB lifted restrictions on tours of South Africa. It was announced that the return test would be against New Zealand.Black 1998 79 This was criticised in South Africa as the Springboks had not played full international rugby for 11 years and it was felt it would not be competitive however New Zealand were invited because it was felt appropriate after the events around the 1981 South Africa rugby union tour. A Political Game - a story of Rugby and Apartheid Documentary TVNZ TV One 2004 36 Pre-match The ANC had agreed to support the match under three conditions: that the South African national flag not be flown officially, that the national anthem "Die Stem van Suid-Afrika" not be played and that there would be a minute's silence to remember victims of the township violence in South Africa. The SARFU agreed to these requests, but a request for visiting teams to visit Boipatong - where the Boipatong massacre had recently taken place - was not agreed to.http://en.espn.co.uk/southafrica/rugby/story/266217.html South Africa: Nick Farr Jones reflects on his experiences as Wallabies captain in South Africa ESPN 2016-02-28 Before the match, however, the Conservative Party passed out leaflets endorsing singing of "Die Stem van Suid-Afrika" as a protest against black nationalism.Black 1998 115 It was noticed that a large number of the predominantly white Afrikaner crowd waved South African flags that the Conservative Party had also given out.Black 1998 115http://www.sahistory.org.za/article/early-history-rugby-south-africa The Early History of Rugby in South Africa Sahistory.org.za 2016-02-28 The minute's silence was also disrupted by the crowd jeering "Fok die ANC" (Afrikaans: Fuck the ANC) and singing "Die Stem van Suid-Afrika".Black 1998 115 After the performance of "God Defend New Zealand"; SARFU President Louis Luyt broke the agreement with the ANC and played an instrumental version of "Die Stem van Suid-Afrika" over the PA system with the crowd and several South African players joining in.John Nauright Sport, Cultures, and Identities in South Africa A&C Black 1997 0-7185-0072-5 164–165 This was followed by the traditional haka of the All Blacks. The match First half The first points of the match were scored by New Zealand's Grant Fox from a penalty kick, during which the South African supporters counted Fox's steps First Test match 1992 New Zealand rugby union tour of Australia and South Africa TVNZ Johannesburg 15 August 1992 15 in a divergence from rugby etiquette where normally silence is kept during kicks.John Beattie https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/johnbeattie/2012/11/to_boo_or_not_to_boo_that_is_t_1.html To boo or not to boo? That is the Murrayfield question BBC 2016-02-28 South Africa also had a penalty kick at goal, but this was missed by Naas Botha. The first try of the match came from New Zealand's Zinzan Brooke following a quick tap penalty which was converted by Fox. South Africa then pressured the All Blacks but failed to score, with the score at the end of first half 10–0 to New Zealand.5207 3979 3737 263 South Africa 24 27 New Zealand 15 August 1992 15 March 2016 Second half The second half started with Botha kicking a penalty to make the score 10–3. However Botha missed two further penalty kicks which proved crucial in the result of the match. Following a clearance kick from Robert du Preez, John Kirwan scored a try for New Zealand with Fox converting, making the score 17–3, before Fox scored another penalty to make it 20–3. Later in the match Danie Gerber scored a try for the Springboks which Botha converted. Following some poor tackling, John Timu scored for the All Blacks, with the try again being converted by Fox. In the last 5 minutes of the match, South Africa scored two tries from Pieter Muller and Gerber with both being converted by Botha with the last kick of the game to make the final score 27–24. Details 15 August 1992 13:30 UTC+2 RSA 1982 24–27 Report NZL Gerber (2), P. Muller Botha (3) Botha Z. Brooke, Kirwan, Timu Fox (3) Fox (2) Ellis Park, Johannesburg 72,000 _sa95 _2 gold stripes 144931 144931 144931 FFFFFF 144931 South Africa _allblacksclassic _2whitestripes 000000 000000 000000 000000 000000 New Zealand FB 15 Theo Jansen van RensburgRW 14 James SmallOC 13 Danie GerberIC 12 Pieter MullerLW 11 Pieter HendriksFH 10 Naas Botha (c)SH 9 Robert du PreezN8 8 Jannie BreedtBF 7 Ian MacDonaldOF 6 Wahl BartmannRL 5 Adolf MalanLL 4 Adri GeldenhuysTP 3 Lood MullerHK 2 Uli SchmidtLP 1 Heinrich RodgersReplacements:PR 16 Johan StygerWG 17 Heinrich FülsFL 18 Garth WrightCE 19 Hennie le RouxSR 20 Drikus HattinghFB 21 Harry RobertsCoach:John Williams FB 15 John TimuRW 14 John KirwanOC 13 Frank BunceIC 12 Walter LittleLW 11 Inga TuigamalaFH 10 Grant FoxSH 9 Ant StrachanN8 8 Zinzan BrookeOF 7 Michael JonesBF 6 Jamie JosephRL 5 Robin BrookeLL 4 Ian JonesTP 3 Richard LoeHK 2 Sean Fitzpatrick (c)LP 1 Olo BrownReplacements:SH 16 Jon PrestonWG 17 Matthew CooperCoach:Laurie Mains Post-match Though the match was intended to be a celebration of unity, the pre-match actions caused a political row. The fact that "Die Stem van Suid-Afrika" was played before the match and the reaction of the predominantly white crowd were perceived to be an act of white defiance. Luyt defended his decision to play the South African anthem, stating "I will not be threatened by anybody, and I don't care if certain people, not having rugby at heart, feel upset about my decision."https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1020828.html https://web.archive.org/web/20160529073129/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1020828.html usurped 2016-05-29 ANC Threatens Call for Renewal of Rugby Boycott The Washington Post 1992-08-15 HighBeam Research subscription 2016-04-14 In its match report the following day, The Star wrote, "For that moment inside the concrete bowl, it seemed like a besieged tribe had gathered to take strength in their numbers and to send, from the protected citadel, a message of defiance to their perceived persecutors."John Nauright http://irs.sagepub.com/content/31/1/69.full.pdf "A Besieged Tribe"?: Nostalgia, White Cultural Identity and the Role of Rugby in a changing South Africa International Review for the Sociology of Sport 1996 31 1 69–86 10.1177/101269029603100104 145013357 2016-04-23 The ANC threatened to withdraw support for South Africa's next test match against Australia, which could have led to the cancellation the match due to safety concerns and Australia stated they would not play if the match didn't have ANC support. However, the future South African sports minister Steve Tshwete asked for the ANC to give the supporters another chance and the ANC did not withdraw their support.https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1021160.html https://web.archive.org/web/20160529073132/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1021160.html usurped 29 May 2016 ANC Drops Its Objections To S. African Rugby Game; White Fans Admonished Not to Sing Anthem The Washington Post 20 August 1992 11 June 2018 William HighBeam Research subscription Claiborne Instead they issued a warning that if it happened again they would oppose all future tours and the 1995 Rugby World Cup.Black 1998 115 The return test was seen as the first step towards the 1995 Rugby World Cup, which South Africa hosted and won by defeating New Zealand 15–12 in the final. Before that match, both national anthems of South Africa – "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika" and "Die Stem van Suid-Afrika" – were played and sung by both players and fans.Carlin John Playing the Enemy 2008 Penguin New York 978-1-59420-174-5 173–178 The 1992 test was seen as the first step towards the notion of South Africa as a "rainbow nation" after apartheid as rugby started to gain support from all races.Black, 117 References Bibliography David Ross Black Rugby and the South African Nation Manchester University Press 1998 0-7190-4932-6 June 2017 sports Category:1992 in South African rugby union Category:1992 in New Zealand rugby union Category:South Africa national rugby union team matches Category:New Zealand national rugby union team matches Category:Rugby union and apartheid Category:History of rugby union matches between New Zealand and South Africa Category:August 1992 sports events in Africa Category:1990s in Johannesburg