Summary P
W
D
L W D Total 25
15
4
6 | P W D L 25 15 | |
1949 saw the second full tour of South Africa by a representative New Zealand rugby union team (the New Zealand national rugby union team). The All Blacks achieved a record of 13 wins, 7 losses and 4 draws, and they lost the test series 4–0.
The New Zealand union left Maori players out of the 30-man tour squad to meet apartheid conditions set by South Africa. "Johnny Smith, Ben Couch and Vince Bevan ... were not considered for the South African tour because they were Maori. All three would surely have otherwise gone to South Africa." Smith's official All Black profile now acknowledges "the unforgivable weakness shown by New Zealand rugby".
As this tour took place, a simultaneous Australia tour to New Zealand led to the unusual situation of two All Black tests on 3 September 1949, in Durban and Wellington. The All Blacks lost both. One reason for New Zealand affording the Australian series test status was to allow Maori players excluded from South Africa to earn caps.