Sydney  - New Zealand's race relations watchdog has written to the South African Rugby Union (SARU) in support of a proposed game between a side made up exclusively of Maori players and the Springboks, news reports said Friday.

The June game is in doubt because of South African objections to the "racial" selection of the New Zealand side because it is restricted to ethnic Maori, the Rugby Heaven website reported.

"I have no problem with the concept of a Maori rugby team or a European rugby team or a Chinese rugby team," Joris de Bres wrote in his letter to the SARU. "This is ethnic diversity, not racial discrimination."

There is a certain irony in the spat. New Zealand cancelled a rugby tour of South Africa 42 years ago when Maori players were denied entry into the apartheid-era country.

Australia, which joined the boycott in 1972, has had no objections to a Maori team touring.

Some have accused the SARU of hypocrisy, pointing out that the Springbok team is selected using a quota of non-white players. (dpa)