1960 New Zealand rugby union tour of Australia and South Africa

The 1960 New Zealand rugby union tour of South Africa, was a series of rugby union matches played by the New Zealand national rugby union team (the All Blacks) in South Africa and Rhodesia.

1960 New Zealand rugby union tour of Australia and South Africa
Summary	P W D L
Total	31 25 02 04
Test match	05 02 01 02
Opponent	P W D L
South Africa	4 1 1 2
Rhodesia[1]	1 1 0 0

It was a very controversial tour, because the South African authorities imposed the exclusion of Māori players from the team. This racist policy created much controversy in New Zealand. (See Halt All Racist Tours and History of rugby union matches between New Zealand and South Africa.)

Later tours

New Zealand Rugby Union then refused any other tour for the succeeding ten years until Māori and Samoan player participation was accepted in 1970. On that occasion South African authorities, gave them the title of "Honorary Whites", but controversies remained.^[2][3] In 1976, all the African countries boycotted the Olympic Games in protest at the All Blacks' tour of South Africa.

Then, the 1981 Springboks' tour, was contested by a large part of New Zealand public opinion, with riots and demonstrations.

In 1985 public opinion convinced NZRU to cancel another tour in South Africa. Only with the end of apartheid, in 1992 did the controversy end.

Also outside the political troubles, the results of the tour weren't good in any case for All Blacks, that lost the series with only a victory and a draw in the four-match series against the Springboks

Results

In Australia

No test match was played.

Scores and results list All Blacks' points tally first.

Opposing Team	For	Against	Date	Venue	Status
New South Wales	27	0	14 May 1960	Moore Park, Sydney	Tour match
Queensland	32	3	14 May 1960	Moore Park, Sydney	Tour match
Victoria-South Australia	30	6	17 May 1960	Wade Park, Orange	Tour match
New South Wales Country	38	6	17 May 1960	Wade Park, Orange	Tour match
Western Australia	57	0	21 May 1960	Leederville Oval, Perth	Tour match

In Africa

Scores and results list All Blacks' points tally first.

Opposing Team	For	Against	Date	Venue	Status
Northern Universities	45	6	28 May 1960	Olen Park, Potchefstroom	Tour match
Natal	6	6	31 May 1960	Kings Park, Durban	Tour match
Griqualand West	21	9	4 June 1960	De Beers Stadium, Kimberley	Tour match
SW Africa	27	3	8 June 1960	South West Stadium, Windhoek	Tour match
Boland	16	0	11 June 1960	Boland Stadium, Wellington	Tour match
West. Prov. Universities	14	3	15 June 1960	Newlands, Cape Town	Tour match
Northern Transvaal	27	3	18 June 1960	Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria	Tour match
South Africa	0	13	25 June 1960	Ellis Park, Johannesburg	Test Match
A Rhodesian XV	13	9	29 June 1960	Kitwe	Tour match
Rhodesia	29	14	2 July 1960	Slamis Stadium, Salisbury	Test Match
Orange Free State	8	9	6 July 1960	Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein	Tour match
Junior Springboks	20	6	9 July 1960	Kings Park, Durban	Tour match
Eastern Province	16	3	13 July 1960	Boet Erasmus, Port Elizabeth	Tour match
Western Province	20	8	16 July 1960	Newlands, Cape Town	Tour match
SW District	18	6	19 July 1960	Oudtshoorn	Tour match
South Africa	11	3	23 July 1960	Newlands, Cape Town	Test Match
Central Universities	21	12	27 July 1960	Border RU Ground, East London	Tour match
Eastern Transvaal	11	6	30 July 1960	PAM Brink, Springs	Tour match
SA Combined Services	3	8	3 August 1960	Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria	Tour match
Transvaal	19	3	6 August 1960	Ellis Park, Johannesburg	Tour match
Western Transvaal	28	3	9 August 1960	Olen Park, Potchefstroom	Tour match
South Africa	11	11	13 August 1960	Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein	Test Match
North-Eastern Districts	15	6	17 August 1960	Aliwal North	Tour match
Border	30	3	20 August 1960	Border RU Ground, East London	Tour match
South Africa	3	8	27 August 1960	Boet Erasmus, Port Elizabeth	Test Match
A Transvaal XV	9	3	3 September 1960	Ellis Park, Johannesburg	Tour match

Cultural reaction

The Howard Morrison Quartet released "My Old Man's an All-Black", a parody of My Old Man's a Dustman, which noted the absence of Māori players from the touring side:

Oh, my old man’s an All Black,
He wears the silver fern,
But his mates just couldn’t take him
So he’s out now for a turn.
Fi Fi Fo Fum, there’s no Horis in this scrum.^[4]

American satirist Tom Lehrer was touring New Zealand in April 1960 when Prime Minister Walter Nash officially refused to intervene in the New Zealand Rugby Football Union's plans to tour South Africa with only white players. On introducing his own song "Fight Fiercely, Harvard" in the Auckland Town Hall, he said "At this juncture of the evening's symposium, I wish to pay tribute to the New Zealand Rugby Football Union--for not allowing a little thing like human dignity to interfere with the great principles of the game."^[5] He would go on to pen original lyrics on the subject, which were published in the Auckland Star:

When the early missionaries first brought Rugby to New Zealand,
It became the state religion right away,
And to the ten commandments has been added an eleventh,
And it says: No matter what -- thou shalt play!

CHORUS:
Oh, Mr Nash, why so rash?
Is the Rugby Union so hard up for cash?
Though you talk about the Maori
In your phrases sweet and flow'ry
I'm afraid you've missed the point, Mr Nash.

When the team goes to South Africa, we all must act politely,
So to all their local problems, let's be mute.
It might be a friendly gesture as a token of affection
If we brought along some blacks for them to shoot.

CHORUS: Oh, Mr Nash, etc.

No, it doesn't really matter what New Zealand may have lost,
As long as Kiwi Rugby players are supreme,
And just think how glad they'd make us if they came back with the title
Of the World's Greatest Non-Pigmented Team!

CHORUS: Oh, Mr Nash, etc.^[6][7]

Notes

1. not officially recognized by NZRU as a test match
2. Reid, Neil (9 May 2010). "Bee Gee: I never felt I was an honorary white". Sunday News. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
3. Brown, Michael (18 April 2010). "Rugby: Once was hatred". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
4. "My old man's an All Black". New Zealand History. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
5. Berry, John (1964). Seeing Stars - A Study of Show Folk in New Zealand. Wellington: Seven Seas. p. 76.
6. Berry, John (16 April 1960). ""Oh, Mr Nash," says Tom Lehrer". Auckland Star.
7. Berry, John (1964). Seeing Stars - A Study of Show Folk in New Zealand. Wellington: Seven Seas. p. 77.

External links

• New Zealand in Australia and South Africa 1960 from rugbymuseum.co.nz