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The Lions team was selected by the Four Home Unions committee which organises Lions tours. The Lions would have toured South Africa in 1986 if the regular schedule had been followed, but in December 1985 the South African Rugby Board announced they would not be inviting the Lions side to tour South Africa the following year.
A tour to South Africa by the Lions was anticipated in 1986, but the invitation for the Lions to tour was never accepted because of controversy surrounding Apartheid and the tour did not go ahead. [15] The Lions did not return to South Africa until 1997, after the Apartheid era.
Pages in category "1986 in South African rugby union" ... British Lions v The Rest; C. 1986 Currie Cup; F. Five Nations XV v Overseas Unions XV; N. New Zealand Cavaliers
Answering the call from many South African supporters to play a more expansive style of rugby, coach Jake White fielded a more adventurous team. They broke South Africa's five-game losing streak by beating the All Blacks 21–20 at Royal Bafokeng Stadium. The All Blacks' defeat by the South Africans was their only loss of the year.
The Lions played Rhodesia (a territory which, at different times in history comprised one or more of the modern day countries of Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe), South-West Africa (now Namibia) and East Africa (a British colony composed of Kenya, Tanzania/Tanganyika and Uganda) on some of their earlier South African tours.
The two teams have played 49 matches; South Africa have won 25 times to the Lions' 18, with the remaining six matches finishing as draws. The Lions won the first two series between the two sides in 1891 and 1896 , including wins in the first six matches, but then did not win another series until their unbeaten 1974 tour .
Political objections to South Africa's apartheid policies including a potential boycott of the 1986 Commonwealth Games and state of emergency in South Africa at the time lay behind this decision. The squad selected for an International Rugby Board centenary match was the closest thing to an official 1986 British Lions side.
11 – Lowveld massacre: South African apartheid army and police forces opened fire on students attending a trial in the Kabokweni magistrate court, with fatalities among the casualties. 12 – Esther Masuku, mother of youth activist and SACC member Oupa Masuku, is killed in a hand grenade attack on their house in Atteridgeville, Pretoria.