THIS weekend, as over the previous four Nations Cup weekends, World Rugby’s message has been relayed from empty stadia into homes across the UK: “The international rugby family condemns discrimination of any kind, including racism which has no place in our sport or wider society.”

It is a shame that the statement does not end on a confessional note. The addition of one sentence would suffice, an acknowledgement that four of the foundation Unions – England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales – offered succour to the racist South African regime by repeatedly sending the Lions there during the apartheid y...