This first tour undertaken by England to South Africa was organised with a demanding schedule, although with only one Test Match.

[citation needed] The tour took place against the backdrop of widespread condemnation of the apartheid regime.

In 1971, an international cricket boycott was instituted against South Africa to voice global disapproval of their selection policies and apartheid in general.

[1] There were protests against the 1972 England rugby tour, including a blockade of their hotel to try to prevent them leaving, in which 14 people were arrested.

Dawie Snyman collected all the South African points with three penalties while England, with unspectacular competence, grabbed every scoring chance.