Presbytery statement on Rugby tour

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 32967, 13 July 1972, Page 12

Presbytery statement on Rugby tour

Sir, —We are grateful for the reporting of the Presbytery debate concerning the proposed Springbok tour next year, but it seems a pity that this statement passed by a large majority was not printed in full. The statement was amended to be a positive one encouraging Rugby but on certain clear and firm conditions to ensure true sportsmanship. We hope that South Africa can find a way to accept and that such an acceptance will prove to be a positive step towards the end of apartheid in all things. The statement of Presbytery is as follows: “That this Presbytery supports the extending of an invitation to South Africa to send a representative Rugby team provided that players of all races are fully eligible for selection by a multi-racial panel. We urge all persons and groups concerned with the proposed tour to indicate to the Prime Minister and the Rugby Union their support for such an invitation. We urge the Rugby Union to amend its invitation accordingly. We are against the proposed tour as at present planned because of the apartheid principles involved in South Africa’s sporting policy.”—Your etc., JOHN MURRAY, Convener Public Questions Committee.

[This letter is printed as a matter of record. We have no space to repeat the recent correspondence on apartheid or the Springbok tour. —Ed., “The Press.”]