Anthems ‘should not be played’ on rugby tour

Press, 13 July 1985, Page 13

Anthems ‘should not be played’ on rugby tour

PA Auckland The National Anthems should not be played at any of the All Black matches in South Africa because of the team’s disloyalty to the Government, says a Rotorua group opposed to the tour. In a letter to the New Zealand Rugby Union, the anti-tour group, Coalition Against the Tour, says that All Black team members cannot be regarded as loyal New Zealanders. The group said that the team was going to South

Africa in defiance of the Government and in spite of a joint call by Church leaders for the tour not to take place. “Therefore, the team is being disloyal to the best interests of the Queen and New Zealand, and the National Anthems, should not be played.” A spokesman for the coalition, the Rev. Harvey Ruru, has also asked that the team not perform the traditional Maori haka before each match. Mr Ruru said it would be

an insult to the Maori people for the haka to be performed in South Africa. In a reply to Mr Ruru, the chairman of the Rugby Union’s council, Mr Ces Blazey, said that whether a haka was performed was not a union decision. It was a matter for each team to decide. The union did not accept the coalition’s view that the National Anthem should not be played. Mr Blazey said, “The team members will be loyal New Zealanders.”