History of the South Africa national rugby league team

This is a history of the South Africa national rugby league team.

Attempted establishment

Rugby league would first gain attention in South Africa when the English and French would attempt expansion in the 1950s for the purpose of creating further international opposition. South African Rugby League Retrieved on 18 May 2007. Three games would then be played between the two nations on the continent but both sides viewed the matches as nothing more than friendly fixtures so never undertook the games in a serious manner and the public never subsequently took to the three exhibition games.

Formation of national side

Over the next several years rugby league would lie dormant in South Africa and it was not until the 1960s when talks of creating a national side began. After much discussion within South Africa, it was eventually agreed that a national side would play a touring Great Britain and then undertake a tour of Australasia. The first South African national side played their first competitive fixture on 23 August 1962 and put on a good showing against the much stronger British but eventually lost by nineteen points, 49–30. The following two fixtures turned out to be much the same with the South Africans being defeated on another two occasions but putting in good performances whilst never being comprehensively beaten. The South Africans would embark on their first tour eleven months later with a twenty-four-man squad that included several former......
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