Dr. Craven Told To Relent

Press, Volume CV, Issue 31006, 11 March 1966, Page 3

Dr. Craven Told To Relent

The South African Minister of the Interior (Senator J. De Klerk) said that Dr. Danie Craven, president of the South African Rugby Board, was wrong on the Maori issue and he hoped that Dr. Craven would be “man enough to admit he was wrong,” says an N.Z.P.A.-Reut-er message from Bloemfontein. Professor P. W. G. Groenewoud, vice-president of the South African Rugby Board, had confirmed that Dr. Craven had been told not to make press statements in New Zealand, Senator De Klerk said. He was commenting on a statement made by Dr. Craven in Cape Town. The Minister said that since the beginning of the century South African Rugby teams had played the All Blacks. The All Blacks bad always

sent white teams to South Africa. Now the New Zealanders had decided that they wanted to include Maoris. “The Prime Minister of New Zealand, Mr Keith Holyoake, has gone so far as to say ‘No Maoris —no Rugby.’ “I have always wanted to keep politics out of sport. Both the Prime Minister (Dr. H. F. Verwoerd) and I have stated South Africa’s policy concerning sport,” the Minister said. NOT LAW “We respect the customs of every country. When we are guests in another land we respect their customs. When we are in New Zealand we play against the Maoris. “When in Rome we do as the Romans do. “But when we are hosts, our guests are in another Rome, and they must do as we do in our country.” Senator De Klerk said the policy of not mixing white and non-white sport was not a written law. It was a tradition.

The difference between New Zealand and South

Africa over Rugby tours was having repercussions on other sports, Mr N. Scott, skipper of the Springbok angling team which competed in the recent international big game fishing competition, said in Auckland last night, the Press Association reports. “There was a feeling among the boys that we were not as welcome this time,” he said. “When we arrived the papers were full of this Rugby business,” said Mr Scott. “Then the president of the Federation of Labour made his statement suggesting that future Springbok teams would find things difficult in this country. BOAT LATE “On our first day’s fishing at Russell, the boat turned up late and the boatman told us: ‘You’re darn lucky I’m here at all. I wouldn’t have come if my wife hadn’t persuaded me.’ “The boatman then did his best to persuade us not to go out. He told us frankly he didn’t.want to take us ‘be-

cause you won’t play our Maoris.’ “The next day the boat did not turn up at all and we were left standing on the jetty. NOT TO BLAME Mr T. E. Skinner, president of the Federation of Labour, said yesterday that if Mr Scott and his team had encountered any unpleasantness it was not the result of any action by the federation. The president of the New Zealand Gamefishing Council (Mr N. Brady), of Kerikeri, said he was astonished to hear that the South Africans believed there was some ani" mosity towards them as a rtf suit of the Rugby issue.

“I never heard the word Rugby mentioned during the contest,” he said. Boat allocation had been made difficult because the council had not received confirmed entries until just before the competition. “I am going to suggest to the council that in future contestants, should be allowed to book their own boats,” he said.