No matches against black teams—Hart

Press, 2 May 1985, Page 8

No matches against black teams—Hart

PA Wellington The most significant feature of the All Blacks’ itinerary in South Africa was the lack of matches against black teams, said Hart’s spokesman, Mr John Minto, yesterday. The absence of matches against teams organised by the non-racial South African Rugby Union “gave the lie” to claims that rugby in the republic was fully integrated.

“The South African Rugby Union is the organisation that represents the big majority of black and Coloured players inside the country and that organisation has called for an end to this tour,” Mr Minto said on Radio New Zealand’s “Morning Report.” “It is an organisation which we believe the New

Zealand Rugby Union should be entering into a relationship with rather than the South African Rugby Board which represents white rugby players.” Some of the state selections the All Blacks would meet on their the 16-match tour would include black and Coloured players, Mr Minto said, but this was a tactic by the South African board to impress the international news media. “That is the way the South African Rugby Board operates. They select their teams at a national and provincial level from basically whites-only trials and then they add in one or maybe two Coloured or black players just to make it look good whereas, at every level in rugby in South Africa below international level, there is com-

plete segregation according to Government policy.” Mr Minto said the itinerary had no major relevance for the protest movement because it was certain that the tour would not go ahead. “It has no particular significance for us because we are particularly confident the tour won’t go ahead. We are confident that the campaign we are waging at the moment will ensure that irresistible pressure builds on the New Zealand Rugby Union to reverse the decision to go to South Africa,” he said. “That is the basis on which we are operating at the moment and we are confident that over the next two weeks the decision can be turned round — and we won’t be faced with a protest situation should the All Blacks actually leave.”