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Finnigan v NZRFU (1985)

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Leading Cases in Sports Law

Part of the book series: ASSER International Sports Law Series ((ASSER))

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Abstract

When the New Zealand Rugby Football Union (“NZRFU”) accepted an invitation to tour South Africa in 1985, two plaintiffs sought an injunction to prevent the All Blacks from leaving the country. The main issue was of standing, with it being held that, despite the plaintiffs not being members of the NZRFU, there were interlocking contracts with the local clubs, of which they were members, which provided a sufficient link with the national governing body. An injunction was therefore granted on the basis that there was a prima facie case that it was in the public and national interest that the tour be prevented from taking place. Accordingly, the tour was cancelled, even though the matter did not go to a full trial. Within a decade, the All Blacks were playing against South Africa and the apartheid system, which the plaintiffs were opposed to, had been abandoned. The Finnigan proceedings encapsulate the relationship between sport and politics but also have some relevance to contemporary sport’s attitude to racism and discrimination on the field of play.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Note that there are in fact three decisions relating to this case: Finnigan v New Zealand Rugby Football Union Inc (No 1) [1985] 2 NZLR 159 covers the initial application for an interlocutory injunction, Finnigan v New Zealand Rugby Football Union Inc (No 2) [1985] 2 NZLR 181 involves the interim interlocutory decision, while Finnigan v New Zealand Rugby Football Union Inc (No 3) [1985] 2 NZLR 190 involves the application to the Court of Appeal for conditional leave to appeal to the Privy Council.

  2. 2.

    It is usually taken that the only coloured cricketer to have represented South Africa before the abolishment of apartheid was Charles Llewellyn who played in the early 1900s and was a member of the 1910–1911 South African team that toured Australia. However, when this claim was made in the mid-1970s by a cricket historian, Llewellyn’s surviving daughter denied that he was either “coloured” or, as had also been claimed, ever racially abused by teammates. See further Merrett 2002, 26.

  3. 3.

    Wilde 2011, 40.

  4. 4.

    Wilde 2011, 40. D’Oliveira scored 2,484 runs for England at an average of 40.06 and also took 47 Test wickets.

  5. 5.

    Obituary, The Australian, 12.

  6. 6.

    The MCC is the Marylebone Cricket Club. Formed in 1787, the MCC, rather than the English Cricket Board, selected English teams for overseas tours up until the 1980s.

  7. 7.

    For instance, this was the situation that faced Queensland fast bowler, Eddie Gilbert, during the 1930s. Despite the fact that he had the talent to play cricket at first-class level, including impressive first-class figures of 87 wickets at 28.97, and despite the fact that he had dismissed Don Bradman for duck in a Sheffield Shield match in Brisbane in 1931, his opportunities to play were restricted by his race. For more information on Gilbert’s career see Colman and Edwards 2002.

  8. 8.

    Parsons vBurk [1971] NZLR 244.

  9. 9.

    Parsons vBurk [1971] NZLR 244.

  10. 10.

    Parsons vBurk [1971] NZLR 244, 246.

  11. 11.

    Parsons vBurk [1971] NZLR 244, 246.

  12. 12.

    Parsons vBurk [1971] NZLR 244, 247.

  13. 13.

    Finnigan v New Zealand Rugby Football Union Inc (No 2) [1985] 2 NZLR 181, 184.

  14. 14.

    Ashby v Minister of Immigration [1981] 1 NZLR 222.

  15. 15.

    Ashby v Minister of Immigration [1981] 1 NZLR 222, 223.

  16. 16.

    Ashby v Minister of Immigration [1981] 1 NZLR 222, 224.

  17. 17.

    Ashby v Minister of Immigration [1981] 1 NZLR 222, 227.

  18. 18.

    Ashby v Minister of Immigration [1981] 1 NZLR 222, 228.

  19. 19.

    Ashby v Minister of Immigration [1981] 1 NZLR 222, 229.

  20. 20.

    Ashby v Minister of Immigration [1981] 1 NZLR 222, 229.

  21. 21.

    Ashby v Minister of Immigration [1981] 1 NZLR 222, 229, 231.

  22. 22.

    Ashby v Minister of Immigration [1981] 1 NZLR 222, 229, 234.

  23. 23.

    Finnigan v New Zealand Rugby Football Union Inc (No 1) [1985] 2 NZLR 159 at 161.

  24. 24.

    Finnigan v New Zealand Rugby Football Union Inc (No 1) [1985] 2 NZLR 159, 161.

  25. 25.

    Finnigan v New Zealand Rugby Football Union Inc (No 1) [1985] 2 NZLR 159, 172.

  26. 26.

    Finnigan v New Zealand Rugby Football Union Inc (No 1) [1985] 2 NZLR 159, 174.

  27. 27.

    Finnigan v New Zealand Rugby Football Union Inc (No 1) [1985] 2 NZLR 159, 170.

  28. 28.

    Finnigan v New Zealand Rugby Football Union Inc (No 1) [1985] 2 NZLR 159, 175.

  29. 29.

    Finnigan v New Zealand Rugby Football Union Inc (No 1) [1985] 2 NZLR 159, 178.

  30. 30.

    Finnigan v New Zealand Rugby Football Union Inc (No 1) [1985] 2 NZLR 159, 178.

  31. 31.

    Finnigan v New Zealand Rugby Football Union Inc (No 1) [1985] 2 NZLR 159, 178.

  32. 32.

    Finnigan v New Zealand Rugby Football Union Inc (No 1) [1985] 2 NZLR 159, 179.

  33. 33.

    Finnigan v New Zealand Rugby Football Union Inc (No 1) [1985] 2 NZLR 159, 180.

  34. 34.

    Finnigan v New Zealand Rugby Football Union Inc (No 2) [1985] 2 NZLR 181, 185.

  35. 35.

    Finnigan v New Zealand Rugby Football Union Inc (No 2) [1985] 2 NZLR 181, 186.

  36. 36.

    Finnigan v New Zealand Rugby Football Union Inc (No 2) [1985] 2 NZLR 181, 186–188. Mr Stofile was a Presbyterian Minister from South Africa who was a witness for the plaintiffs.

  37. 37.

    Finnigan v New Zealand Rugby Football Union Inc (No 2) [1985] 2 NZLR 181, 189.

  38. 38.

    Finnigan v New Zealand Rugby Football Union Inc (No 3) [1985] 2 NZLR 190, 192.

  39. 39.

    Finnigan v New Zealand Rugby Football Union Inc (No 3) [1985] 2 NZLR 190, 193.

  40. 40.

    Finnigan v New Zealand Rugby Football Union Inc (No 3) [1985] 2 NZLR 190, 196.

  41. 41.

    Finnigan v New Zealand Rugby Football Union Inc (No 3) [1985] 2 NZLR 190, 197.

  42. 42.

    Finnigan v New Zealand Rugby Football Union Inc (No 3) [1985] 2 NZLR 190, 199.

  43. 43.

    Finnigan v New Zealand Rugby Football Union Inc (No 3) [1985] 2 NZLR 190, 199.

  44. 44.

    Finnigan v New Zealand Rugby Football Union Inc (No 3) [1985] 2 NZLR 190, 203.

  45. 45.

    Finnigan v New Zealand Rugby Football Union Inc (No 3) [1985] 2 NZLR 190, 203.

  46. 46.

    Finnigan v New Zealand Rugby Football Union Inc (No 3) [1985] 2 NZLR 190, 203.

  47. 47.

    Finnigan v New Zealand Rugby Football Union Inc (No 3) [1985] 2 NZLR 190, 207.

  48. 48.

    Finnigan v New Zealand Rugby Football Union Inc (No 3) [1985] 2 NZLR 190, 207.

  49. 49.

    Finnigan v New Zealand Rugby Football Union Inc (No 1) [1985] 2 NZLR 159, 179.

  50. 50.

    Note that this act has been repealed and replaced by the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth). The relevant section (45) of the Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth), has, however, been retained as section 45 of the new act.

  51. 51.

    For a discussion of the original trial and appeal to the Full Court of the Federal Court see Davies 2001, 121–129.

  52. 52.

    For a discussion on the High Court decision see Davies 2003a, 116–128.

  53. 53.

    Finnigan v New Zealand Rugby Football Union Inc (No 2) [1985] 2 NZLR 181, 188.

  54. 54.

    Finnigan v New Zealand Rugby Football Union Inc (No 1) [1985] 2 NZLR 159, 178.

  55. 55.

    See, for example, Davies 2003b, 190–202.

  56. 56.

    Wheeler vLeicester City Council [1985] 1 AC 1054.

  57. 57.

    Wheeler vLeicester City Council [1985] 1 AC 1054, 1074.

  58. 58.

    Wheeler vLeicester City Council [1985] 1 AC 1054, 1075.

  59. 59.

    Wheeler vLeicester City Council [1985] 1 AC 1054, 1075.

  60. 60.

    Wheeler vLeicester City Council [1985] 1 AC 1054, 1078.

  61. 61.

    Wheeler vLeicester City Council [1985] AC 1054, 1079.

  62. 62.

    Wheeler vLeicester City Council [1985] AC 1054, 1080. Around the same time in Australia, the Australian Cricket Board’s attempt to ban “rebel” players from touring and playing in South Africa was held to be an unreasonable restraint of trade. See Hughes v Western Australian Cricket Association (1986) 69 ALR 660, 703.

  63. 63.

    Demonstrations by protestors opposed to sports participants from South Africa competing in England were frequent at the time and had been since the 1960s and 1970s. Note, for example, Brutus v Cozens [1973] AC 854 where a protest by anti-apartheid demonstrators at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, Wimbledon, during a doubles match involving a South African player, was held not to be insulting behaviour under section 5 of the Public Order Act 1936.

  64. 64.

    Olympic Charter 2011, 11.

  65. 65.

    Olympic Charter 2011, 14.

  66. 66.

    Barrett 2011, 24.

  67. 67.

    Hughes 2011, 24.

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  1. School of Law, James Cook University, Queensland, Australia

    Chris Davies

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Correspondence to Chris Davies .

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  1. , School of Law, Queen's University Belfast, University Square 27-30, Belfast, BT7 1NN, Antrim, United Kingdom

    Jack Anderson

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Davies, C. (2013). Finnigan v NZRFU (1985). In: Anderson, J. (eds) Leading Cases in Sports Law. ASSER International Sports Law Series. T.M.C. Asser Press, The Hague, The Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-6704-909-2_7

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