Māori All Blacks’ controversial loss to Boks doesn’t sit well for 5-year-old

Arthur Smyle with his letter to Prime Minister Chris Hipkins.

A Waikanae School pupil has sent a letter to Prime Minister Chris Hipkins seeking an apology for an alleged incident which happened during the Springboks tour of New Zealand in the 1950s.

Parent Mishal Smyle said her son Arthur, 5, was reading a book about when the Māori All Blacks were asked to purposefully lose to South Africa during a tour of New Zealand in 1956.

The Māori team was expected to test South Africa but lost 37-0 at Eden Park in front of 61,000 people.

Years later, Māori All Black fullback Muru Walters, who became an Anglican bishop in Ōtaki, said Māori Affairs Minister Ernest Corbett [who died in 1968] told the side minutes before the game they must not beat the Springboks “for the future of rugby”, says a member of that side.

“What he said was you must not win this game or we [All Blacks] will never be invited to South Africa again,” Bishop Walters told Radio Waatea host Willie Jackson in 2010.

“I thought he was joking, but then another official came in and said the same thing ... for the future of rugby, don’t beat the South Africans.

“That was a pretty destructive message, actually ... and it ripped the guts out of our spirits of our team.”

Mishal, from Reikorangi, said after reading a children’s history book called Kia Kaha, which referenced the incident, Arthur said to her, “Mamma, when I am an adult, I would like to tell the Prime Minister that this is wrong and they should apologise.”

“We told him that he didn’t have to wait, but that as a young person he had a voice and could write a letter.

“It feels poignant during election year to remind our young people that they have a voice in a democratic country and to raise kids to be empowered voters.

“It also feels poignant during the Rugby World Cup to remember our history and make right the wrongs that have happened in the past.”

She said her son’s letter to the PM was also a reminder that there is “always time to reflect, apologise and strive to be humble empowered human beings”.

Arthur’s letter said he enjoyed the book because it had “lots of stories in it like army people, famous people and they are all from Aotearoa”.

But the bit about the lead-up to the game, in particular when the Māori All Blacks were told not to win the game, had him concerned.

“I think it is not okay,” he wrote.

“The government didn’t do the right thing.

“They should have let New Zealand [Māori All Blacks] have a chance at winning.

“I would like the government to change that and give the trophy to the New Zealand rugby people.

“I want them [government] to apologise to the Māori All Blacks.”