Even before the apartheid laws were passed in South Africa after 1948 , sporting teams going to South Africa had felt it necessary to exclude non-white players . In 1906 , the South Africans objected to the selection of black England international James Peters when he turned out for Devon ; but were persuaded to play by officials . Though , when England faced South Africa later in the tour , Peters was not selected . New Zealand rugby teams in particular had done this , and the exclusion of George Nepia and Jimmy Mill from the 1928 All Blacks tour , and the dropping of Ranji Wilson from the New Zealand Army team nine years before that , had attracted little comment at the time . However , in 1960 international criticism of apartheid grew in the wake of '' The Wind of Change '' speech and the Sharpeville massacre
Sharpeville massacre
Sharpeville massacre
History of rugby union