New Zealand Cavaliers

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The Cavaliers was the name given to an unofficial New Zealand rugby union team which toured South Africa in 1986.

The rebel tour occurred after the official All Black tour planned for 1985 was cancelled due to a legal ruling that it would be incompatible with the NZRFU's legally stated purpose: "...the fostering and encouragement of the game of rugby..."[1].

The team included 28 of the 30 players who had been selected for the All Black tour, and they were widely believed to have received large secret payments—a controversial issue at a time when rugby was still an amateur sport[2].

The Cavaliers were coached by Colin Meads and captained by Andy Dalton and won just one of the four matches against South Africa, although they won seven of their eight other games on the tour. Dalton, however suffered a broken jaw In the second match of the tour and played no more rugby that season.

On their return, the NZRFU barred all the players from participating in the next two All Black tests, and instead selected a new group of players. Most of these replacement players were younger, and were quickly dubbed the "Baby Blacks".