The 1984 England rugby union tour of South Africa was a series of seven matches played by the

England national rugby union team The England national rugby union team represents England in men's international rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. England have won the championship on 29 occasion ...

in South Africa in May and June 1984. England played seven games, including two test matches against the

South Africa national rugby union team The South Africa national rugby union team, commonly known as the Springboks (colloquially the Boks, Bokke or Amabokoboko), is the country's national team governed by the South African Rugby Union. The Springboks play in green and gold jerse ...

. They won four of the seven matches but lost both of the test matches as well as drawing the fixture against Western Province. In the face of much criticism, and in spite of covert political pressure, the

Rugby Football Union The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the Sports governing body, national governing body for rugby union in England. It was founded in 1871, and was the sport's international governing body prior to the formation of what is now known as World Rugby ...

decided that the tour of South Africa should go ahead, but probably with hindsight, in the light of results, later wished that they had not. The RFU Council voted in favour of the tour proceeding by 44 votes to 6."A little help from Hitler"
April 14, 194, The Spectator Although only

Ralph Knibbs Ralph Andrew Knibbs is an English former rugby union player who played for Bristol. Rugby career He made his debut as a seventeen-year-old against Pontypridd RFC in 1982, scoring with his first touch of the ball.apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

his reason,"Where are they now? Bristol Rugby's glorious 1983 John Player Cup final winning side"
July 11, 2015, The Bristol Post many other top players were also unable to tour,"Anti-Apartheid Movement Annual Report on Activities and Developments"
1984, via

Aluka Aluka was an online digital library focused on Africa-related material. It focused on globally connecting scholars by building a common platform for online collaboration and knowledge sharing. Aluka's intended audience was higher education and re ...

and the squad was relatively inexperienced. 10 of the 26 players were uncapped before the tour and 7 gained their first caps in South Africa.

Matches

:''Scores and results list England's points tally first.''

Test matches

First test

----

Second test

Touring party

*Tour Manager : Ron Jacobs *Team Manager: Derek Morgan *Coach:

Dick Greenwood John Richard Heaton Greenwood, (born 11 September 1940) is an English former rugby union player and coach. A flanker, he played for Waterloo, Cambridge University, Lancashire and . He later coached Preston Grasshoppers and England. Biograph ...

*Captain: John Scott (Cardiff) 31 Caps

Full backs

Dusty Hare William Henry "Dusty" Hare (born 29 November 1952) is a former international rugby union footballer who played fullback. Hare holds the world record for points scored in a first-class rugby career, with 7,337 points. He was born in Newark ...

(Leicester) 23 Caps *

Nick Stringer Nick Stringer (born 10 August 1948 in Torquay, Devon) is an English actor. In a thirty-year career, Stringer has appeared in numerous well-known British television shows, including ''The Bill'', '' Bergerac '', '' Open All Hours'', ''Only Fo ...

(Wasps) 2 Caps

Three-quarters

* Mark Bailey (Cambridge University) No Caps *Steve Burnhill (Loughborough College) No Caps *

Paul Dodge Paul William Dodge (born 26 February 1958 in Leicester, England) is a former English rugby union international footballer who gained 32 caps for his country between 1978 and 1985. His Leicester Tigers career earned him 436 appearances. Dodg ...

(Leicester) 25 Caps *John Palmer (Bath) No Caps * Tony Swift (Swansea) 5 Caps *David Trick (Bath) 1 Cap

Half-backs

* Huw Davies (Wasps) 12 Caps * Richard Hill (Bath) No Caps * John Horton (Bath) 11 Caps *

Nick Youngs Nicholas Gerald Youngs (born 15 December 1959) is an English former rugby union footballer who played for Bedford, Leicester Tigers and England, at Scrum-half, gaining six England caps in 1983–1984. He also was an unused England reserve fi ...

(Leicester) 6 Caps Replacement *

Bryan Barley Bryan Barley was a former England international rugby union centre. He was educated at Normanton Grammar School and Leeds University where he studied economics and mathematics. He joined Wakefield RFCin 1978 converting thirteen of Wakefield' ...

(Wakefield) 3 Caps

Forwards

* Phil Blakeway (Gloucester) 14 Caps * Steve Brain (Coventry) No Caps *Chris Butcher (Harlequins) No Caps * David Cusani (Orrell) No Caps *John Fidler (Gloucester) 2 Caps * Jon Hall (Bath) 3 Caps * Steve Mills (Gloucester) 3 Caps * Gary Pearce (Northampton) 14 Caps *

Malcolm Preedy Malcolm Preedy (born ) is a former rugby union player, a prop who played for Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between t ...

(Gloucester) No Caps *

Paul Rendall Paul Anthony George Rendall (18 February 1954 – 13 June 2023) was an English rugby union player. He played as a prop. Nicknamed "the Judge", Rendall played for London Wasps. Rendall had 28 caps for England, from 1984, when he was already 30 ...

(Wasps) 1 Cap * Gary Rees (Nottingham) No Caps * John Scott (Cardiff) 31 Caps *

Mike Teague Michael Clive Teague (born 8 October 1960) is a former England and British Lions rugby union footballer. Early life Teague was born and raised on a farm a few miles outside Gloucester. He attended Churchdown School. Personal life Teague mar ...

(Gloucester) No Caps *

Peter Winterbottom Peter James Winterbottom (born 31 May 1960 in Otley, West Yorkshire), is a former England rugby union footballer who played as an openside flanker. He was England's most-capped openside (with 58 caps) until being overtaken by Neil Back in 20 ...

(Headingley) 13 Caps

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:England 1984 rugby union tours

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

Rugby union and apartheid 1983–84 in English rugby union 1984 in South African rugby union Sports scandals in England