In an editorial, the New Zealand Herald asks what would be achieved by the NZRU apologising for the exclusion of Maori players from All Black tours to the republic in 1928, 1949 and 1960 on racial grounds.
"Saying sorry has become very much a 21st century feel-good phenomenon. Rugby has not been immune. Individual players, notably Tana Umaga and Norm Hewitt, have offered public apologies, surely at the union's behest, for unacceptable off-field behaviour. In the way of modern practice, these, however, were more about damage control than anything else.
"If an apology is to be appropriate, it should offer a step towards understanding and reconciliation. Those who feel they should be on the receiving end should find it a cathartic experience that enables them to put misfortune behind them. Neither pertains to the excluded Maori rugby players. Everybody already accepts this was a disgrace. The appeasing of the apartheid regime and its racist policies is a stain that will never be expunged from the union's history. But Maori rugby, for its part, has surely long consigned the injustice to history, and proceeded to fashion an impressive record in international encounters."
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