Not only did they tour, but it is scarcely believable that the New Zealand Rugby Union kowtowed to their South African counterparts by bringing an all-white team – they had been told that no Maoris were welcome.

The Springboks won the series, as they had done in 1949 and 1928, and that can only partly explain – but does not excuse – why the All Blacks kept insisting on returning to South Africa to try and win their first series.

The Kiwis also liked taking revenge on the Springboks, and invited them to tour in 1965.

While the tour was free of the demonstrations that erupted in1981, there was excruciating embarrassment for the Springboks when, back in South Africa, Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd said that the All Blacks team set to tour in 1967 would have to remain free of Maoris.

Verwoerd’s timing could not have been worse, because his speech came during the week the touring Boks played a match against the New Zealand Maori team.

The Boks had been warmly entertained at a traditional Maori reception.

This time, the New Zealand government showed stronger mettle, and cancelled the proposed 1967 tour.

The tour was rescheduled for 1970 after Verwoerd’s successor, John Vorster, relented and allowed Polynesian All Blacks Sid Going and Bryan Williams to tour as “honorary whites”, a hugely insulting term.

The Springboks’ planned tour of New Zealand in 1973 was cancelled by the NZ government, but the All Blacks agreed to tour South Africa in 1976.

Like their 1960 visit, their timing was uncanny – two weeks before their arrival, 176 black youths had lost their lives in what became known as the Soweto Uprising.

New Zealanders voiced their discontent, and Prime Minister Robert Muldoon signed the 1977 Gleneagles Agreement, which committed British Commonwealth countries to disbanding sporting contact with South Africa.

Yet four years later, the Springboks were back in New Zealand, and five years later, an unofficial All Blacks team, known as the Cavaliers, toured the Republic.

#sharpeville-massacre

Sharpeville united the world against apartheid but sporting isolation took too long — ask the All Blacks