Episode four of The Ruck's Rugby's Greatest Rivals series centres on the 1986 Cavaliers tour, and the most compelling thread is the argument — made by Auckland-based rugby journalist and historian Jamie Wall — that the tour's lasting damage was reputational rather than political. Wall contends that while ordinary New Zealanders found it easy to distance themselves from the Cavaliers because figures like David Kirk publicly refused to go, the real wound for New Zealand rugby is the knowledge that for many Cavaliers, the All Black jersey came second to the money. "The All Black jersey didn't mean as much as getting a big chunk of change in the back pocket," Wall said. "And that's the bit that hurts New Zealanders the most." He also pushes back hard on the Springbok fan argument that South Africa would have won the 1987 or 1991 World Cups had they been invited — insisting the protest movement was so powerful globally that the tournaments themselves would have collapsed had the Boks shown up. Former Springbok lock Schalk Burger Sr., who features at length, gives the tour its most vivid inside account: sneaking a look at tour documents from Andy Dalton's briefcase in a Cardiff hotel, then going on to organise the first-ever commercial payment deal for Springbok players, distributing around R7,500 a head at a time the Cavaliers were reportedly banking the equivalent of £12,500 each.
The Cavaliers, cash and shame: how a rebel tour reshaped the Bok-All Black rivalry
Jamie Wall argues the 1986 Cavaliers tour's real legacy is the shame of All Blacks who chose a pay cheque over the jersey — while Schalk Burger Sr. reveals how it also triggered the first under-the-table payment scheme for Springbok players.
Jamie Wall argues the 1986 Cavaliers tour's real legacy is the shame of All Blacks who chose a pay cheque over the jersey — while Schalk Burger Sr. reveals how it also triggered the first under-the-table payment scheme for Springbok players.
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