South African Springbok rugby tour in UK is disrupted by anti-apartheid demonstration.

Date: 5 Nov 1969
Updated: 30 Sep 2019

The South African Springbok rugby tour in the United Kingdom (UK) was disrupted by an anti-Apartheid demonstration. The team was made up entirely of Afrikaners. Once the tour was announced, the strongest opposition came from the political Left. The front-page article of the New Statesman read “Apartheid is not a game,” declaring that the tour should not go on. The political Right advocated for the continuation of the tour. An article written in The Spectator called attention to the fact that Great Britain competes with many other oppressive nations and no protests ensue.

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How we know this

01Boddy-Evans, A. ‘This Day in African History: 5 November’, [online], available at https://africanhistory.about.com (accessed: 9 October 2013)
02Global Nonviolent Action Database, ‘British citizens protest apartheid South African sports tours (Stop the Seventy Tour), 1969-1970’, [online], available at https://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu (accessed: 9 October 2013)

Last updated · 30 Sep 2019

Cite this entry

South African History Online. (2011, November 7). South African Springbok rugby tour in UK is disrupted by anti-apartheid demonstration.. South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0069151

South African History Online (2011) 'South African Springbok rugby tour in UK is disrupted by anti-apartheid demonstration.', South African History Online, 7 November. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0069151 (Accessed: 27 July 2026).

South African History Online, South African Springbok rugby tour in UK is disrupted by anti-apartheid demonstration. [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0069151, (accessed 27 July 2026).

"South African Springbok rugby tour in UK is disrupted by anti-apartheid demonstration.." South African History Online, 7 Nov. 2011, https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0069151. Accessed 27 July 2026.

South African History Online. "South African Springbok rugby tour in UK is disrupted by anti-apartheid demonstration.." South African History Online. November 7, 2011. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0069151.