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The world's attention is focused on the World Cup in South Africa where there is still a great divide in sport between Football and Rugby with football being supported by the black South Africans and Rugby by the whites a bit like the lesse known divide amongst pet ownership with cats being kept in the black communities and dogs by the whites with exceptions.
The film Invictus showed how Nelson Mandela used the Springboks to try and bridge divisions in the Ruby world cup.
However given the prominence of Rugby as the White man's sport suppose a Rugby league had been established in the black townships. Rugby League and Rugby Union had a different type of apartheid in Britain with Rugby league developing in working class areas around the Lancashire , Yorkshire and Cumbrian mining areas as a working mans sport that compensated the players from loss of earnings whilst Rugby Union was the public school sport for gentlemen. For some reason or other probably because the rules on payment were bent Rugby Union became a mass sport in South Wales.
The legendary mixed race Rugby League international Billy Boston born in Tiger Bay was socially ostracised on return to South Wales for playing league. The division have gone but could a Rugby league have developed amongst black South Africans as an alternative to the white Rugby Union?