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1972 England rugby union tour of South Africa

Rugby matches played by England

Field	Value
team	England
yearstart	1972
matchplayed	7
matchwon	6
matchdraw	1
matchlost	0
testplayed	1
testwon	1
testdraw	0
testlost	0
opponent1
played1	1
won1	1
draw1	0
lost1	0

This first tour undertaken by England to South Africa was organised with a demanding schedule, although with only one Test Match. Within two weeks and three days, seven matches were to be played, the first four at sea level, and the final three, including the Test Match, at the altitude in the highveld with only two days to acclimatise before a demanding fixture against Northern Transvaal. From the outset, under captain John Pullin and the management of Alec Lewis and John Elders, there was a buoyant and optimistic spirit in the squad, as if they were determined to erase the memories of the last few seasons of undistinguished English performances.

Apartheid backdrop and controversy

The tour took place against the backdrop of widespread condemnation of the apartheid regime. Under pressure from other African nations, the International Olympic Committee had excluded South Africa from competing in the Summer Games since 1964, and there had also been protests against visiting sporting teams from South Africa.

In 1971, an international cricket boycott was instituted against South Africa to voice global disapproval of their selection policies and apartheid in general. South Africa subsequently became a world sporting pariah, and were excluded from the Olympics, the FIFA World Cup, test cricket, and a host of other sports.

There were protests against the 1972 England rugby tour, including a blockade of their hotel to try to prevent them leaving, in which 14 people were arrested.

Matches

:Scores and results list England's points tally first.

Opposing Team	For	Against	Date	Venue	Status
	19	0	17 May 1972	Durban	Tour match
Western Province	9	6	20 May 1972	Cape Town	Tour match
SA Rugby Fed XV	11	6	22 May 1972	Cape Town	Tour match
SA Leopards	36	3	24 May 1972	Port Elizabeth	Tour match
Northern Transvaal	13	13	27 May 1972	Pretoria	Tour match
Giqualand West	60	21	30 May 1972	Kimberley	Tour match
South Africa	18	9	3 June 1972	Ellis Park, Johannesburg	Test Match

Test Match

Piet Greyling led a combination of Springboks who seemed hopelessly unsure of themselves. Dawie Snyman collected all the South African points with three penalties while England, with unspectacular competence, grabbed every scoring chance. Fullback Sam Doble converted a try by wing Alan Morley and also booted four penalties.

Johan Claassen ZAF				ENG John Elders

Touring party

Manager: Alec Lewis
Assistant Manager: John Elders
Captain: John Pullin (Bristol) 24 caps

Full Backs

Sam Doble (Moseley) No caps
David Whibley (Leicester) No caps

Three-Quarters

Jeremy Janion (Bedford) 8 caps
Peter Knight (Bristol) 2 caps
Alan Morley (Bristol) No caps
Peter Preece (Coventry) No caps
Tony Richards (Fylde) No caps
John Spencer (Headingley) 15 caps

Half-Backs

Alan Old (Middlesbrough) 4 caps
Tom Palmer (Gloucester) No caps
Lionel Weston (West of Scotland) 2 caps
Jan Webster (Moseley) 2 caps
Steve Smith (Wilmslow) No caps (Replacement for L. E. Weston)

Forwards

John Barton (Coventry) 4 caps
Tony Boddy (Metropolitan Police) No caps
Mike Burton (Gloucester) 4 caps
Fran Cotton (Loughborough College) 3 caps
Tim Cowell (Rugby) No caps
Peter Larter (Northampton) 21 caps
Tony Neary (Broughton Park) 4 caps
John Pullin (Bristol) 24 caps
Chris Ralston (Richmond) 6 caps
Andy Ripley (Rosslyn Park) 4 caps
Stack Stevens (Harlequins) 9 caps
John Watkins (Gloucester) No caps
Dave Watt (Bristol) 4 caps

References

Pg 99, Douglas Booth, ''The Race Game: Sport and Politics in South Africa'', 1998.
(17 January 2023). "Anti-Apartheid protesters' historic convictions overturned by Crown Court". [[Criminal Cases Review Commission]].
Greyvenstein, Chris. (1992). "Springbok saga : from 1891 to the new beginning". Don Nelson.
Griffiths, John. (1982). "The Book of English International Rugby 1871–1982". Willow Books.

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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