As they had in 1928 and would do again in 1960, the New Zealand union left Māori players out of the 30-man tour squad to meet apartheid conditions set by South Africa.

Particularly notable omissions were "Johnny Smith, Ben Couch and Vincent Bevan... All three (and Ron Bryers) would surely have otherwise gone to South Africa.

"[1] Smith's official All Black profile now acknowledges "the unforgivable weakness shown by New Zealand rugby".

[2] Kiwi Blake (who was of African American heritage but played for the Māori All Blacks) is quoted as saying that after a trial match he, Bevan and Smith were told by a selector that "If you had been eligible, you would have all gone".

One reason for New Zealand affording the Australian series test status was to allow Māori players excluded from South Africa to earn caps.