The 1971 South Africa

South Africa national rugby union team

The South African national rugby union team are 2009 British and Irish Lions Series winners. They are currently ranked as the fourth best team in the IRB World Rankings and were named 2008 World Team of the Year at the prestigious Laureus World Sports Awards.Although South Africa was instrumental...

 rugby union tour of Australia was a controversial six-week rugby union

Rugby union

Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

 tour by the South African national team to Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. Anti-apartheid protests came to being all around the country. The tour is perhaps most infamous for a state of emergency

State of emergency

A state of emergency is a governmental declaration that may suspend some normal functions of the executive, legislative and judicial powers, alert citizens to change their normal behaviours, or order government agencies to implement emergency preparedness plans. It can also be used as a rationale...

 being declared in Queensland

Queensland

Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

. In total, around 700 people were arrested whilst the Springboks were on tour.

Overview

The first games were then played in Adelaide

Adelaide

Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...

 and Perth

Perth, Western Australia

Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....

, which were disrupted mainly by youth-led protesters. The third match was set to take place in Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

. A 5,000 strong crowd, made up mostly of university students, gathered in the streets of Melbourne to march on Olympic Park

Olympic Park

An Olympic Park is a sports campus for hosting the Olympic Games. Typically it contains the Olympic Stadium and the International Broadcast Centre. It may also contain the Olympic Village or some of the other sports venues, such as the aquatics complex in the case of the summer games, or the main...

 in protest. Police had set up a wall of units around the stadium, around 650 policemen many armed with truncheon

Truncheon

Truncheon may refer to:*Baton *Cutting , means of plant propagation used by gardeners*HMS Truncheon , a British submarine commissioned during Word War II and later sold to Israel...

s and some on horseback. In Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

, several people attempted to saw down the goal posts at the Sydney Cricket Ground

Sydney Cricket Ground

The Sydney Cricket Ground is a sports stadium in Sydney in Australia. It is used for Australian football, Test cricket, One Day International cricket, some rugby league and rugby union matches and is the home ground for the New South Wales Blues cricket team and the Sydney Swans of the Australian...

 prior to the match. In addition, a gigantic anti-apartheid effigy

Effigy

An effigy is a representation of a person, especially in the form of sculpture or some other three-dimensional form.The term is usually associated with full-length figures of a deceased person depicted in stone or wood on church monuments. These most often lie supine with hands together in prayer,...

 was hung from the Sydney Harbour Bridge

Sydney Harbour Bridge

The Sydney Harbour Bridge is a steel through arch bridge across Sydney Harbour that carries rail, vehicular, bicycle and pedestrian traffic between the Sydney central business district and the North Shore. The dramatic view of the bridge, the harbour, and the nearby Sydney Opera House is an iconic...

 but subsequently cut down.

Queensland premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen

Joh Bjelke-Petersen

Sir Johannes "Joh" Bjelke-Petersen, KCMG , was an Australian politician. He was the longest-serving and longest-lived Premier of Queensland, holding office from 1968 to 1987, a period that saw considerable economic development in the state...

 declared a month-long state of emergency. The game was instead played at the Exhibition Ground, being moved from its original venue at Ballymore Stadium

Ballymore Stadium

Ballymore is the name of a rugby union stadium situated in Herston, a suburb of Brisbane, Australia. It was the home of Queensland Rugby Union, and used to be the home ground for the Queensland Reds and the Brisbane Strikers Football Club. The Queensland Reds have since moved to Suncorp Stadium...

, as it was deemed easier to erect barricades at the Exhibition Ground. A two-metre chain wire fence was erected to separate players and spectators.

According to Meredith Burghmann, one of the leading firebrands, the rugby tour was a crucial target, but to stop the summer's cricketing visit was the ultimate goal. They were successful in this regard as the cricket tour was called off due to security reasons.

The Touring Group

• Manager Flappie Lochner
• Coach Johan Claassen

Fullbacks

• Ian McCallum
• Tonie Roux

Wings

• Syd Nomis
• Gert Muller
• Hannes Viljoen
• Andy van der Watt as replacement

Centres

• Peter Cronje
• Joggie Jansen
• Peter Swanson

Flyhalves

• Piet Visagie
• Dawie Snyman

Scrumhalves

• Joggie Viljoen
• Dirk de Vos

Hookers

• Piston van Wyk
• Robbie Barnard

Props

• Hannes Marais (capt)
• Sakkie Sauermann
• Martiens Louw

Locks

• Frik du Preez
• John Williams
• Johan Spies

Loose Forwards

• Tommy Bedford
• Morne du Plessis
• Jan Ellis
• Piet Greyling
• Thys Lourens
• Albie Bates as replacement

Test Match Results

South Africa won the Test Series 3-0

• 17 July 1971 - Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney,South Africa 19-11 Australia

South Africa: McCallum, Nomis, Cronje, Jansen, Viljoen, Visagie, J Viljoen, Du Plessis, Ellis, Greyling, Williams, Du Preez, Marais (c), Van Wyk and Sauermann

Tries by Hannes Viljoen, Joggie Viljoen and Jan Ellis. Ian McCallum 2 conversions and penalty and Piet Visagie drop goal.

Australia Captain Greg Davies

• 31 July 1971 - Brisbane Exhibition Ground, Brisbane, South Africa 14-6 Australia
• 7 August 1971 - Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney. South Africa 18-6 Australia

External links

• Breaking the rules: the campaign in Australia against apartheid
• History Of The Game includes match image.