1992 South Africa vs New Zealand rugby union match

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1992 South Africa vs New Zealand rugby match
Event1992 New Zealand rugby union tour of Australia and South Africa
South Africa New Zealand
South Africa New Zealand
24 27
Date15 August 1992
VenueEllis Park Stadium
Attendance72,000

In 1992, the South Africa Springboks played a rugby union test match against the New Zealand All Blacks, which later became known as the Return Test. The match was played at Ellis Park Stadium in Johannesburg on 15 August 1992. It was named 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 South Africa'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.[1]

In 1990, President

1981 South Africa rugby union tour.[5]

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.[6] 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.[6]

Before the match, however, the

haka of the All Blacks.[6]

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[11] in a divergence from rugby etiquette where normally silence is kept during kicks.[12] 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.[13]

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.[13] 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.[13]

Details

15 August 1992
13:30
Ellis Park, Johannesburg

Attendance: 72,000
South Africa
New Zealand
FB 15 Theo van Rensburg
RW 14
James Small
OC 13 Danie Gerber
IC 12 Pieter Muller
LW 11 Pieter Hendriks
FH 10 Naas Botha (c)
SH 9
Robert du Preez
N8 8 Jannie Breedt
BF 7
Ian MacDonald
OF 6 Wahl Bartmann
RL 5 Adolf Malan
LL 4 Adri Geldenhuys
TP 3 Lood Muller
HK 2 Uli Schmidt
LP 1 Heinrich Rodgers
Replacements:
PR 16 Johan Styger
WG 17 Heinrich Füls
FL 18 Garth Wright
C 19 Hennie le Roux
WG 20 Drikus Hattingh
FB 21
Harry Roberts
Coach:
John Williams
FB 15 John Timu
RW 14 John Kirwan
OC 13 Frank Bunce
IC 12
Walter Little
LW 11
Inga Tuigamala
FH 10 Grant Fox
SH 9 Ant Strachan
N8 8 Zinzan Brooke
OF 7 Michael Jones
BF 6 Jamie Joseph
RL 5 Robin Brooke
LL 4 Ian Jones
TP 3 Richard Loe
HK 2 Sean Fitzpatrick (c)
LP 1 Olo Brown
Replacements:
SH 16 Jon Preston
WG 17 Matthew Cooper
Coach:
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."[8] 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."[14]

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.[8][15] 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.[15] Instead they issued a warning that if it happened again they would oppose all future tours and the 1995 Rugby World Cup.[6][7]

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.[16] 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.[17]

References

  1. ^ "The rebel rugby tour: Boots and all". New Zealand Herald. 7 September 2011. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
  2. ISBN 0-7185-0072-5
    .
  3. ^ Black 1998, p. 8.
  4. ^ Black 1998, p. 79.
  5. TV One
    .
  6. ^ a b c d "South Africa: Nick Farr Jones reflects on his experiences as Wallabies captain in South Africa". ESPN. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
  7. ^ a b c d Black 1998, p. 115.
  8. ^ a b c "ANC Threatens Call for Renewal of Rugby Boycott". The Washington Post. 15 August 1992. Archived from the original on 29 May 2016. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  9. ^ "The Early History of Rugby in South Africa". Sahistory.org.za. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
  10. ISBN 0-7185-0072-5
    .
  11. ^ "First Test match". 1992 New Zealand rugby union tour of Australia and South Africa. Johannesburg. 15 August 1992. 15 minutes in. TVNZ.
  12. ^ John Beattie. "To boo or not to boo? That is the Murrayfield question". BBC. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
  13. ^ a b c "SA Rugby Match Centre – South Africa 24–27 New Zealand". South African Rugby Union. 15 August 1992. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
  14. S2CID 145013357
    . Retrieved 23 April 2016.
  15. ^ a b Claiborne, William (20 August 1992). "ANC Drops Its Objections To S. African Rugby Game; White Fans Admonished Not to Sing Anthem". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 29 May 2016. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  16. ISBN 978-1-59420-174-5
    .
  17. ^ Black, 117

Bibliography

  • Black, David Ross (1998). Rugby and the South African Nation. Manchester University Press.
    ISBN 0-7190-4932-6
    .

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