Well, that’s only partially true with South Africa. Rugby was played there by official touring teams well into the 1980s. England played a series there in 1984, while apartheid was at its peak of international controversy. South Africa remained a full member of the IRB throughout the apartheid period, though was excluded from the first two World Cups. Don’t forget that rugby is a huge part of the Afrikaaner culture.Then there were rebel cricket tours by England players. The likes of Graham Gooch, in 1982, and Mike Gatting in 1989, risked their test careers by captaining the squads, with money the chief lure for going there. Other unofficial touring teams visited in that period from Sri Lanka, Australia and, most controversially, the West Indies.Apartheid really came to an end because the government of FW de Klerk was enlightened and brave enough to recognise that the system couldn’t continue. Sporting pressure had very little to do with it.
Simon Hayes ● 900d