'n Geskiedenis van die Suid-Afrikaanse Rugbyraad (SARR): Ontstaan, ontwikkeling en vroeë bedrywighede, 1889-1956

English: This thesis studies the history of the South African Rugby Board (SARB), the national governing body of white rugby in the country, from 1889 to 1956. Unrestricted access to the archive of the SARB gave the candidate the unique opportunity to research and write the history of the organisation’s first 67 years on the basis of its own official records. Rugby is one of South Africa’s most popular sports and its history, which has proven to be equally popular, has been written from many angles over the past almost 90 years. Yet, no study of the administration of the sport in South Africa exists. This thesis aims to fill this gap in the historiography by establishing an organisational history of the SARB. Three key aspects will be focussed on throughout – the functions and operations of the Board and how these developed over time, the evolution of the nature of the Board as a governing body, and the organisation’s ever-changing position in the socio-political contexts of South Africa and the (rugby) world in which it functioned. The hope is that this study will make an innovative contribution to the country’s budding sports history in general, and to our knowledge of rugby history in particular. Although it does not describe the SARB’s entire 103-year existence, it nonetheless illuminates an important theme and period in South Africa’s rugby history, one which has hitherto remained unexplored.