Apology just proves NZRU had no spine, says critic

Muru Walters, fullback in the 1956 Maori side and now a bishop, says the apology is good news but it would have been better done face-to-face. Photo / Greg Bowker

'Sorry' welcomed by some as chance to move on but others say insult should not have occurred

The New Zealand Rugby Union has said sorry for its role in denying Maori players the chance to tour South Africa, but for some people this is still too little, too late.

Henare Pryor, whose brother Albie played at No 8 for the Maori side thrashed 37-0 by the 1956 Springboks at Eden Park, said yesterday's apology was "a lot of bullshit".

Not only had it come too late for his brother, who died 10 years ago, but Mr Pryor said it should have been initiated by the NZRU and New Zealand Government.

"If the union had any balls at all they could have stopped all of this nonsense long ago by saying, 'If you can't take Maori then we won't come'.

"Every red-blooded man in New Zealand rugby wants to play the Springboks over there because they were tough, they were strong and they were uncompromising - but we weren't given the chance."

But Bishop Muru Walters, who played at fullback in the 1956 Maori side and claimed that the then Minister of Maori Affairs, Ernest Corbett, told the players to throw the match, welcomed the apology.

"It's very, very good news but you can't fix things by an email or a statement. I think a kanohi-ki-te-kanohi [face-to-face] deputation would make it real," he said.

"It should be the Minister of Maori Affairs making the apology because as far as the 1956 game I was in, it was the Minister of Maori Affairs that prevented us ... from giving our all because his message was completely, 'Have a good game but don't beat them'."

Bishop Walters' view was supported by historian Malcolm Mulholland, who first mooted the idea of an apology last year.

He said the affected families wanted to host both rugby unions and governments at a hui at Te Poho o Rawiri Marae in Gisborne, where Maori have previously welcomed the Springboks. "It's just an opportunity to shake hands and put it in the past."

NZ Maori Rugby Board chairman Wayne Peters tried to sidestep his earlier refusal to recommend an apology, saying the outcome was a comprehensive one for both Maori and South African rugby players of colour.

"What was initially sought by some as a singular response suitable to address the issue ... has resulted in an outcome far more substantive, embracing, comprehensive and durable," he said.

Asked if the Maori board felt any embarrassment, having been approached twice by the NZRU about an apology, Mr Peters said: "Absolutely not".

"The Maori board's view was that in 2010, the focus should be on the [Maori rugby centenary] celebrations, and underpinning that was the Maori board were not prepared to criticise its predecessors for decisions made in a former era."

Maori Party co-leader Pita Sharples said the NZRU's apology was "very comprehensive" and recognised the failure of past rugby administrators. But the Maori board's reluctance to recommend an apology showed it had lost touch with those it was supposed to represent.

Dr Sharples was in favour of a national Maori administrative body working alongside national sports organisations to advance Maori sporting aspirations.

The NZRU's statement apologised to Maori who were not considered for selection for teams to tour or play against South Africa.

"It was a period in which the respect of New Zealand Maori rugby was not upheld," it said, "and that is deeply regretted."

The NZRU's statement coincided with the South African union's issuing of an apology.