'No Maoris - No Tour' poster, 1960
'No Maoris – No Tour' poster, 1960
The Citizens' All Black Tour Association, of which Ngai Tahu leader Frank Winter was a prominent member, campaigned to stop the selection of a racially based All Black touring team with the slogan 'No Maoris – No Tour'. Over 150,000 New Zealanders signed a petition opposing the tour, but it went ahead.
When the All Blacks toured South Africa in 1970, Maori players were able to travel as 'honorary whites', a decision that appalled Winter and others in New Zealand's growing anti-apartheid movement.
The Springboks played a New Zealand Maori XV at Napier on the first tour in 1921, winning narrowly 9–8. One South African journalist reported his shock at witnessing white supporters actively supporting the Maori XV. The two teams next met in 1956 when the New Zealand Maoris were defeated 37–0 and again in 1965 when they were defeated 9–3. Napier was the venue in 1981 when the two teams fought out a draw – 12 all.
In the 1976 tour to South Africa the All Blacks played a South African Coloureds team in Cape Town, winning 25–3.
Alexander Turnbull Library
Reference: Eph-D-RADICAL-1959-01
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