The British and Irish Lions played games in South West Africa on several occasions – in 1962, 1968, 1974, and 1980. Because South West Africa was part of the South African polity, this meant that rugby there was tainted with the image of apartheid, and moreover, the independence of Namibia coincided with the period in which the Lions did not tour Africa, due to the controversy connected with this. When the Lions tours to SA resumed in 1997, they no longer played games against other African sides, as previously occurred.