115. All Blacks versus Springboks in the inter-war years

For seventy years, the axis of world supremacy in rugby union revolved around New Zealand and South Africa. This week’s episode examines how that rivalry was fueled in the inter-war years, via drawn test series, contrasting styles, national pride and, crucially, the exclusion of Maori and all dark-skinned players to appease South Africa’s racist policies. If you want to understand Southern Hemisphere rugby union today, this is the key.

For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (which also has show notes and links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony.