South African African Rugby Board
The South African African Rugby Board (later renamed the South African Rugby Association) was the body that governed black African
Early black rugby and the first union
As with the game among whites, clubs for black and
Canon Robert John Mullins,
The earliest black rugby club probably was the
The earliest attempt to establish a national rugby governing body for players of colour was the South African Coloured Rugby Football Board (SACRFB), formed in 1897 during South Africa's British colonial period. The SACRFB emerged from a meeting of all clubs and unions called to
In 1905 black clubs formed the Eastern Province Native Rugby Union, whose president was Tobias Mvula.[2]
Founding of the Board
The first rugby governing body devoted to organizing black rugby was the South African Bantu Rugby Board (SABRB), which broke away from the South African Coloured Rugby Football Board in 1935.
The Bantu Rugby Board arranged the first of its annual inter-provincial tournaments in 1936 in Kimberley,[7] in which Transvaal and Eastern Province shared the title after a goalless draw. Other participants included the Northern Eastern Districts from Aliwal North and Griqualand West, but not Western Province, Border or Natal. These tournaments were sponsored by the Chamber of Mines with a trophy called the Native Recruiting Corporation Cup, commonly known as the NRC Cup.[2][8]
Meanwhile the Coloured Rugby Football Board selected its first national side in 1938. In turn, the Bantu Rugby Board initiated test matches with their coloured counterparts to forge a sense of unity.[5]
Conflict and alliances in the apartheid era
In 1959 the Bantu Rugby Board changed its name to the South African African Rugby Board, as "Bantu" had acquired pejorative overtones due to its use by the apartheid state to segregate blacks, reduce their access to land and economic opportunities, and remove their civil and political rights.[5]
As the struggle for political rights intensified in South Africa, black sports bodies came under increasing pressure to strengthen links with white governing bodies, or sever them. Proponents of either position hoped to attempt to transform white governing bodies by co-operation or by opposing them. The African Rugby Board decided to affiliate with the white South African Rugby Board in 1978, just as the Rugby Football Federation did.[9]
In 1966 the Coloured Rugby Football Board changed their name to the South African Rugby Union (not to be confused with the current body of that name), and in 1973 became a founding member of the anti-apartheid South African Council on Sports whose slogan argued that there could be no normal sport in an abnormal society.[9][10][11]
The decision by the African Rugby Board and the Rugby Football Federation to join forces with the Rugby Board cost their players dearly in terms of criticism from home and abroad, and also disqualified them from national recognition in the post-apartheid era. When the South African Rugby Union rewarded black and coloured rugby players who had represented their governing bodies in national teams with Springbok blazers, players who had not been selected for the multi-racial body were excluded from this honour on the basis that they could, technically, have qualified for selection as Springboks from 1978 onwards.[11]
See also
- SAARB Leopards
- South African Rugby Football Federation
- South African Rugby Union
- South African Rugby Union (SACOS)
References
- ^ Odendaal's impression that Mullins was the headmaster of St Andrew's (p.55) is not borne out by the website of that school,"SAC School". Archived from the original on 6 May 2013. Retrieved 5 July 2013. nor by other sources, which does affirm Mullins' position as principal of the Kaffir [sic] Institution [1].
- ^ ISBN 9780864866387. Retrieved 27 December 2011.
- ^ "School Profiles - St Andrew's College". Rugby 365.com. 8 May 2005. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
- ^ ISBN 9780718500726. Retrieved 28 December 2011.
- ^ a b c d Dunn, John (2009). "Reconciliation and Rugby in Post-Apartheid South Africa" (PDF). Retrieved 27 December 2011.
- ^ "The History of South African Rugby". Retrieved 27 December 2011.
- ^ One source indicates that the tournament was held in Port Elizabeth.Rugby in South Africa I: Early History
- ^ "Rugby in South Africa I: Early history". MyFundi.co.za. Retrieved 28 December 2011.
- ^ a b Black, David Ross; Nauright, John (1998). Rugby and the South African Nation. Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press.
- ^ Buhlungu, Sakhela; Daniel, John; Southall, Roger; Lutchman, Jessica (2007). State of the Nation: South Africa 2007. HSRC Press.
- ^ a b Rich, Gavin (25 October 2000). "Proteas Hero Leads Bok Blazer Protest". The Independent (South Africa). Retrieved 28 December 2011.