# 1984 England rugby union tour of South Africa

The 1984 England rugby union tour of South Africa was a series of seven matches played by the England national rugby union team in South Africa in May and June 1984. England played seven games, including two test matches against the South Africa national rugby union team. They won four of the seven matches but lost both of the test matches as well as drawing the fixture against Western Province.
England's decision to take part in the tour drew public criticism, and was the subject of covert political pressure, partly due to the prevailing apartheid system in South Africa. The Council of the Rugby Football Union voted in favour of the tour proceeding by 44 votes to 6. Although only Ralph Knibbs of Bristol made opposition to apartheid his reason, many other top players were also unable to tour, 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.
| Opposing Team | For | Against | Date | Venue | Status |
| Currie Cup "B" Section | 31 | 21 | 19 May 1984 | Kings Park Stadium, Durban | Tour Match |
| South African Federation | 23 | 21 | 23 May 1984 | Danie Craven Stadium, Stellenbosch | Tour Match |
| Western Province | 15 | 15 | 26 May 1984 | Newlands, Cape Town | Tour Match |
| South African Rugby Association | 30 | 8 | 29 May 1984 | Border Rugby Union Ground, East London | Tour Match |
| South Africa | 15 | 33 | 2 June 1984 | Boet Erasmus Stadium, Port Elizabeth | First Test |
| South African Country Districts XV | 33 | 12 | 5 June 1984 | DP de Villers Stadium, Sasolburg | Tour Match |
| South Africa | 9 | 35 | 9 June 1984 | Ellis Park, Johannesburg | Second Test |

## Test matches
### First test

* 2 June 1984
| South Africa | 33–15 | England |
| Try: du Plessis Gerber, Louw Con: Heunis 3 Pen: Heunis 5 | | Pen: Hare 4 Drop: Horton |
* Boet Erasmus Stadium, Port Elizabeth Referee: René Hourquet (France)
| South Africa | | England |
| Johan Heunis | FB | 15 | FB | Dusty Hare |
| Avril Williams | W | 14 | W | Mark Bailey |
| Danie Gerber | C | 13 | C | John Palmer |
| John Villet | C | 12 | C | Huw Davis |
| Carel du Plessis | W | 11 | W | David Trick |
| Errol Tobias | FH | 10 | FH | John Horton |
| Divan Serfontein | SH | 9 | SH | Richard Hill |
| Gerrie Sonnekus | N8 | 8 | N8 | Chris Butcher |
| (capt.) Theuns Stofberg | F | 7 | F | John Hall |
| Rob Louw | F | 6 | F | Peter Winterbottom |
| Rudi Visagie | L | 5 | L | John Scott (capt.) |
| Schalk Burger | L | 4 | L | John Fidler |
| Hempies du Toit | P | 3 | P | Phil Blakeway |
| Chris Rogers | H | 2 | H | Steve Mills |
| Ockie Oosthuizen | P | 1 | P | Malcolm Preedy |
| | | Replacements | | |
| | | | | Nick Stringer |
| | | Coaches | | |
| Cecil Moss | | | | Dick Greenwood |

### Second test

* 9 June 1984
| South Africa | 35–9 | England |
| Try: Gerber 3 Stofberg, Sonnekus, Tobias Con: Heunis 3 Tobias Pen: Heunis | | Pen: Hare 3 |
* Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg Referee: René Hourquet (France)
| South Africa | | England |
| Johan Heunis | FB | 15 | FB | Dusty Hare |
| Avril Williams | W | 14 | W | Mark Bailey |
| Danie Gerber | C | 13 | C | John Palmer |
| John Villet | C | 12 | C | Huw Davis |
| Carel du Plessis | W | 11 | W | Tony Swift |
| Errol Tobias | FH | 10 | FH | John Horton |
| Divan Serfontein | SH | 9 | SH | Richard Hill |
| Gerrie Sonnekus | N8 | 8 | N8 | Chris Butcher |
| (capt.) Theuns Stofberg | F | 7 | F | Peter Winterbottom |
| Rob Louw | F | 6 | F | John Hall |
| Rudi Visagie | L | 5 | L | John Scott (capt.) |
| Schalk Burger | L | 4 | L | John Fidler |
| Hempies du Toit | P | 3 | P | Paul Rendall |
| Chris Rogers | H | 2 | H | Steve Brain |
| Ockie Oosthuizen | P | 1 | P | Gary Pearce |
| | | Replacements | | |
| | | | | Gary Rees |
| | | Coaches | | |
| Cecil Moss | | | | Dick Greenwood |

## Touring party

* Tour manager : Ron Jacobs
* Team manager: Derek Morgan
* Coach: Dick Greenwood
* Captain: John Scott (Cardiff) 31 caps

### Backs

* Dusty Hare (Leicester) 23 caps
* Nick Stringer (Wasps) 2 caps
* Mark Bailey (Cambridge University) No caps
* Steve Burnhill (Loughborough Coll) No caps
* Paul Dodge (Leicester) 25 caps
* John Palmer (Bath) No caps
* Tony Swift (Swansea) 5 caps
* David Trick (Bath) 1 cap
* Huw Davies (Wasps) 12 caps
* Richard Hill (Bath) No caps
* John Horton (Bath) 11 caps
* Nick Youngs (Leicester) 6 caps
* Bryan Barley (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 (Gloucester) No caps
* Paul Rendall (Wasps) 1 cap
* Gary Rees (Nottingham) No caps
* John Scott (Cardiff) 31 caps
* Mike Teague (Gloucester) No caps
* Peter Winterbottom (Headingley) 13 caps