Episode
07| Boycott! | Rugby, Rebels and Reconciliation
- Podcast
- ABC Rewind
- Published
- Apr 30, 2026
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Summary
In this extra episode Sisonke Msimang tells stories of First Nations Australians, Rugby and the fight to end Apartheid. When Aboriginal Rugby player Lloyd McDermott refused to declare himself an honorary white for the Wallabies tour of South Africa in 1963 he began a tradition of First Nations Australians using the sport to get under the skin of the country’s regime. But when Glen Ella from the famous Aboriginal Rugby Union playing family joined a Rebel Rugby 7s tour of South Africa in 1985 he broke the sports boycott and almost tore his family apart. Then Rugby brought the nation of South Africa together in a magic moment of reconciliation when Nelson Mandela wore the Springboks guernsey at the World Cup.