THE WATERSHED TOUR, the 1949 All Blacks in Southern Africa

223pp., b/w & colour illus., hardback, Rockhopper Books, No Place, 2025

ISBN: 9781067239947

In 1949, the Springboks and All Blacks met in South Africa for the first time since the Springboks’ successful 1937 tour of New Zealand. Against all expectations, a Springbok team without a single test cap won all four Test matches with powerful scrummaging and a new fast-moving tactics, introducing new style of play that would influence rugby for decades.

The tour, set against the implementation of apartheid, was controversial and became a political and cultural turning point. As South Africa moved into an era of increasing isolation, rugby both reflected and reshaped the national narrative.

David McLennan is a rare book dealer and owner of Select Books Cape Town. He has written a number of books on rugby in South Africa, including Lions in Africa, 130 years of rugby rivalry, 1891-2009 and The Forgotten Spingboks: the 1912-1913 rugby tour of the United Kingdom and France.