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In November 1969, in the midst of the South African Apartheid era, the Springboks embarked upon a 26-match tour of the UK and Ireland, featuring an entirely white, Afrikaner squad. As Trog’s cartoon indicates, the build-up to the tour had been marked by fierce resistance by anti-Apartheid protestors, particularly led by Labour MP Peter Hain and the ‘Stop the 70 Tour’ group. The protests came to a head on 15 November,
when demonstrators invaded the pitch during the second half of a match between South Africa and Swansea at St Helen’s ground in Swansea, South Wales. Clashes between demonstrators and police injured over 100 people and led to a large number
of arrests. The political fallout from the tour became a major catalyst for the complete international sporting isolation of South Africa during Apartheid.
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