1981 south african rugby tour

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Remembering the 81′ Springbok Tour

40 years on, we look back and talk to two Wellington residents who remember those turbulent times.

“All for the sake of a Rugby game. Doesn’t make sense does it?” – Liz Roberts

During the winter of 1981, violent clashes between rugby supporters, protesters and the police erupted all over Aotearoa in one of our country’s most tumultuous periods. The Springbok rugby tour brought us to the brink of civil war, as many protested the racial segregation of Apartheid South Africa and made links to racism at home.

On the 29th of July, 1981, protesters opposing the Springbok Tour were met by baton-wielding police trying to stop them marching up Molesworth St to the home of South Africa’s Consul to New Zealand.

This was the first time police had used batons against protestors, and the violence horrified many New Zealanders. Former Prime Minister Norman Kirk’s prediction eight years earlier that a tour would result in the ‘greatest eruption of violence this country has ever known’ seemed to ring true.

Wearing helmets like this one, 7000 protesters gathered in central Wellington and around Athletic Park on 29th of August 1981 to stop pro-tour supporters from gaining access to the second test match. Once again the police intervened, this time using long batons, with many protesters injured as a result. This helmet was worn by Anne Bogle during other anti-tour protests.

The Merata Mita Estate permitted us to use the Wellington footage from PATU! (1983) – the powerful documentary directed by Merata Mita which shows the harrowing events of the 1981 Springbok Tour.

Ngā Taonga Sound and Vision meticulously restored and preserved the original documentary for the 40th anniversary. With their approval, we were able to use their newly restored and remastered version for these videos.

Liz Roberts lived on Te Wharepōuri Street in Berhampore, close to Athletic Park, and recalls the events of the 2nd Test on August 29th, 1981, where she saw protesters clash with Police on her street.

Anne Bogle was a young Victoria University student studying Law and History in 1981 – and attended a number of Anti-Tour protests in Wellington – she took part in the protest group that blocked the Wellington Motorway on July 25th and the infamous Molesworth Street incident a few days later on July 29th. The protester helmet she used during the anti-tour demonstrations is currently displayed at Wellington Museum.

Thank you to the Merata Mita Estate for their permission to use parts of the film and also to Ngā Taonga Sound and Vision for their great mahi on the preservation and restoration of this important piece of film taonga .

Also thank you to Anne Bogle and Liz Roberts for sharing their stories.

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The 1981 South African rugby tour (known in New Zealand as the Springbok Tour, and in South Africa as the Rebel Tour) polarised opinions and inspired widespread protests across New Zealand.

In the 1960s and 70s, many New Zealanders had come to believe that playing sport with South Africa condoned its racist apartheid system. Apartheid excluded non-white players, and therefore Maori, from touring there. This made the 1981 tour to New Zeeland among the most divisive events in New Zealand’s history.

By this time, Errol Tobias had become the first Springbok of colour, and he was included in the squad, but despite playing well there, he was excluded from the tests by the Springbok administrators on tour, who were resistant to having him as a Springbok because of his race. Ironically, Tobias was also targeted by anti-apartheid protesters, who accused him of being a sell-out and an Uncle Tom. In fact, he wasn't either. He had proved himself on the field throughout his career to that point, and been selected on merit.

Springboks - Outgoing squad

• Jacobus Johannes Beck
• Hendrik Johannes Bekker
• Daniel Sarel Botha
• Matthys Boshoff Burger
• Captain Wynand Claasen
• Robert James Cockrell
• Willem Du Plessis
• Carel Johan Du Plessis
• Pieter Gerhardus Du Toit
• Schalk Burger Geldenhuys
• Johannes Servaas Germishuys
• Johan Wilhelm Heunis
• Eben-haéser Jansen
• Wilhelm Julius Heinrich Kahts
• Eduard Friedrich Wilhelm Krantz
• Robert James Louw
• Louis Christiaan Moolman
• Raymond Herman Mordt
• Ockert Wessel Oosthuizen
• Zacharias Mattheus Johannes Pienaar
• Shaun Albert Povey
• David Jacobus Serfontein
• Marthinus Theunis Steyn Stofberg
• Henning Jonathan Van Aswegen
• Phillip Rudolph Van der Merwe
• Gabriël Pieter Visagie
• Johann De Villiers Visser
• Barend Johannes Wolmarans
• Errol Tobias
• Captain Andrew Grant "Andy" Dalton
• Murray Mexted
• Billy Bush. captain of the Maori team

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Weekend Rewind: The 1981 Springbok Tour, 35 years on

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Anti Springbok tour protesters at Auckland International Airport protesting the arrival of the South African rugby team in 1981. Photo / File, NZ Herald Archive

On July 19 1981, the South African rugby team arrived in New Zealand, dividing the nation, and sparking 56 days of major civil unrest (along with years of subsequent fallout.) More than 200 demonstrations took place throughout the country, with over 150,000 people taking part. Clashes between tour supporters and protesters, and protesters and police, became increasingly frequent and violent. Not surprisingly, many of our film and television makers felt it important to document and interpret events.

Directed by Merata Mita, Patu! Is both a landmark in New Zealand's film history and a startling record of the tour. Made on a shoestring budget, with the aid of several volunteer camera people (among them Roger Donaldson), it still holds up as a standout piece of activist filmmaking. The documentary profiles the anti-tour campaign, capturing highly charged footage of the clashes. While filming, stock was shifted around and, at times taken out of, the country, as the production team went into hiding to prevent the police from hijacking the editing process.

Watch Patu! here:

Made for the 25th anniversary of the tour in 2006, the documentary Try Revolution examines the impact of the tour in South Africa, showing how events in New Zealand poured shame on the apartheid regime, and helped provoke democratic change. As quoted from Archbishop Desmond Tutu: "You really can't even compute its value, it said the world has not forgotten us, we are not alone."

Watch an excerpt from Try Revolution here:

Landmark documentary series Revolution mapped the social and economic changes in 1980s New Zealand. Touching on the political ramifications of the tour, it highlights then Prime Minister Robert Muldoon's refusal to intervene in its go-ahead, and the effects of his decision on the National Party. Writer CK Stead reflects on the tension of the on-field protest that stopped the tour's Hamilton game.

See part two of Revolution for coverage of the tour:

1982 one-off drama The Protesters explores issues surrounding race and land ownership in the aftermath of both the tour and the occupation of Bastion Point. Starring Billy T James, Jim Moriarty and Merata Mita, it also features early roles from Robert Rakete and former newsreader Joanna Paul. Capturing a mood of division and uncertainty, it's a telling representation of the post-tour climate.

Watch The Protesters here:

Made in 2011, TV movie Rage is set during the tour, telling the story of a protester who falls in love with an undercover policewoman. The script was written by noted cartoonist and columnist Tom Scott - a protester during the tour - and his brother-in-law Grant O'Fee, a detective sergeant in Wellington at the time.

Watch an excerpt from Rage here:

Made by Ric Salizzo and John Kirwan in 1992, All Blacks for Africa - A Black and White Issue follows the All Blacks on their first post-apartheid visit to South Africa. Between scenery shots and match highlights, players past and present reflect on politics and sport - amongst them ex-AB Ken Gray, who refused to tour the republic in 1970 and joined anti-tour protesters in 1981.

Watch All Blacks for Africa - A Black and White Issue here:

You can see more Springbok Tour footage here, in NZ On Screen's Spotlight Collection.

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"I hope that common sense will prevail." – Sir Michael Fowler, Mayor of Wellington, 28th August 1981 From 22 July – 12 September 1981 the South African Rugby Union team (known as the Springboks) toured New Zealand playing 14 games. Due to the South African governments policy of apartheid, the tour was marred by protests and police violence. The All Blacks and the Springboks had been fierce rivals since their first face-off at Athletic Park in 1928, and rugby had since become New Zealand’s national identity. But at the same time, South Africa’s system of racial apartheid had grown unacceptable to many people in New Zealand and overseas. Wellington was a focal point for much of the anti-tour movement during 1981 tour. The Mayor and many of the City Councillors came out against the tour, and several attempts were made by Council to prevent a test match in the City. Protesters clashed with police during a protest on Molesworth Street leaving many battered and bloody. When they next met outside Athletic Park on the day of the test, the protesters came prepared with helmets and shields. The Springboks left New Zealand following their final game in Auckland and would not return until 1994 and the dismantling of apartheid. Linked below are photos of anti-tour posters and pamphlets taken by the City Photographer, as well as a considerable amount of correspondence to and from Mayor Fowler via the Town Clerk's Department. The featured minute book contains City Council meetings related to the tour on pages 207-208 (images 286-287) and 221-222 (images 300-301).

Copy: Abortion, Apartheid, Unions, Nuclear (posters, handouts, protests)

Notice of motion: Springbok Rugby Tour, REDACTED

Volume 102, REDACTED, Minutes of meetings of the Wellington City Council 5 Jun 1981 to 11 Nov 1981

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• 1981 South Africa rugby union tour of New Zealand and the United States

1981 South Africa rugby union tour of New Zealand and the United States explained

The 1981 South African rugby tour (known in New Zealand as the Springbok Tour , and in South Africa as the Rebel Tour ) polarised opinions and inspired widespread protests across New Zealand. The controversy also extended to the United States, where the South African rugby team continued their tour after departing New Zealand.

Apartheid had made South Africa an international pariah , and other countries were strongly discouraged from having sporting contacts with it. Rugby union was (and is) an extremely popular sport in New Zealand, and the South African team known as the Springboks were considered to be New Zealand's most formidable opponents. Therefore, there was a major split in opinion in New Zealand as to whether politics should influence sport in this way and whether the Springboks should be allowed to tour.

Despite the controversy, the New Zealand Rugby Union decided to proceed with the tour. The government of Prime Minister Robert Muldoon was called on to ban it, but decided that commitments under the Gleneagles Agreement did not require the government to prevent the tour, and decided not to interfere due to their public position of "no politics in sport". Major protests ensued, aiming to make clear many New Zealanders' opposition to apartheid and, if possible, to stop the matches taking place. This was successful at two games, but also had the effect of creating a law and order issue: whether a group of protesters could be allowed to prevent a lawful game taking place.

The dispute was similar to that involving Peter Hain in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s, when Hain's Stop the Tour campaign clashed with the more conservative 'Freedom Under Law' movement championed by barrister Francis Bennion . The allegedly excessive police response to the protests also became a focus of controversy. Although the protests were among the most intense in New Zealand's recent history, no deaths or serious injuries resulted.

After the tour, no official sporting contact took place between New Zealand and South Africa until the early 1990s, after apartheid had been abolished. The tour has been said to have led to a decline in the popularity of Rugby Union in New Zealand, until the 1987 Rugby World Cup .

The Springboks and New Zealand's national rugby team, the All Blacks , have a long tradition of intense and friendly sporting rivalry.

From 1948 to 1969, the South African apartheid regime affected team selection for the All Blacks, with selectors passing over Māori players for some All Black tours to South Africa.

Opposition to sending race -based teams to South Africa grew throughout the 1950s and 1960s, and prior to the All Blacks' tour of South Africa in 1960, 150,000 New Zealanders – 6.25% of the country's population at that time – signed a petition supporting a policy of "No Maoris, No Tour". Despite this, the tour still happened, and in 1969, Halt All Racist Tours (HART) was formed.

During the 1970s, public protests and political pressure forced on the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRFU) the choice of either fielding a team not selected by race, or not touring South Africa: after South African rugby authorities continued to select Springbok players by race, the Norman Kirk Labour Government barred the Springboks from touring New Zealand during 1973. In response, the NZRFU protested about the involvement of "politics in sport".

On 28 March 1976, the final game of ex-All Black Fergie McCormick was played at Lancaster Park in Christchurch, to which two Springbok players had been invited. Ten days before the game, protesters had written "WELCOME TO RACIST GAME" in 20-foot high letters on the pitch using weed-killer. [1] [2] [3]

The All Blacks toured South Africa with the blessing of the newly elected New Zealand Prime Minister, Robert Muldoon . In response to this, twenty-five African nations boycotted the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, stating that in their view, the All Blacks tour gave tacit support to the apartheid regime in South Africa: the IOC declined to ban New Zealand from the Olympics on the grounds that rugby union was no longer an Olympic sport.

The 1976 tour attracted several anti-apartheid protests in New Zealand, including one on 28 May 1976 in Cathedral Square, Christchurch which attracted 1000–1500 people and included guerrilla theatre. [4] [5] Protesters also attempted to disrupt television coverage of the first test by vandalising the Makara Hill microwave station in Wellington, which was responsible for relaying programming in and out of TV One 's Avalon studios. [6]

The 1976 tour contributed to the creation of the Gleneagles Agreement , that was adopted by the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in 1977.

Tour of New Zealand

the urgent duty of each of their Governments vigorously to combat the evil of apartheid by withholding any form of support for, and by taking every practical step to discourage contact or competition by their nationals with sporting organisations, teams or sportsmen from South Africa or from any other country where sports are organised on the basis of race, colour or ethnic origin.

Despite this, Muldoon also argued that New Zealand was a free and democratic country, and that "politics should stay out of sport." In the years following the Gleneagles Agreement, it seemed that New Zealand government members did not feel bound to the Gleneagles agreement, and disregarded it. However, some historians claim that, "'the [Gleneagles] agreement remained vague enough to avoid the New Zealand government from having to use coercive powers such as withdrawing visas and passports."' [8] This means Muldoon's government technically wasn't bound to the agreement to the extent it outwardly appeared to the public. In addition to this, Ben Couch , who was the minister for Maori development at the time, stated, 'I believe that the Gleneagles agreement has been forced upon us by people who do not have the same kind of democracy that we have.' [9]

Muldoon made some effort to discourage the tour and stated that he could see ‘nothing but trouble coming from this.’ [10] ‘ A Springbok tour would dash to the ground all that has been achieved as a result of international acceptance ,' wrote deputy Prime Minister Brian Talboys to the chairman of the NZRFU in a further attempt to discourage the tour, [the tour] may affect the harmonious development of the Commonwealth and international sport .'

Some rugby supporters echoed the separation of politics and sport, [11] [12] while other rugby supporters argued that if the tour were cancelled, there would be no reporting of the widespread criticism of apartheid in New Zealand in the controlled South African media.

Muldoon's critics felt that he allowed the tour in order for his National Party to secure the votes of rural and provincial conservatives in the general election later in the year, which Muldoon won. [13] Along with Muldoon's policy of ‘leaving sporting contacts to sporting bodies,’ Muldoon also held the opinion that the disruption and division of New Zealand was not caused by the NZFRU, nor the Springboks, but the anti-tour protesters themselves. [14] This argument was vehemently refuted by anti-tour voices, political activist Tom Newnham claimed that the government enabled ‘the greatest breakdown in law and order [New Zealand] has ever witnessed.’ [15]

The ensuing public protests polarised New Zealand: [13] while rugby fans filled the football grounds, protest crowds filled the surrounding streets, and on one occasion succeeded in invading the pitch and stopping the game.

To begin with, the anti-tour movement was committed to non-violent civil disobedience , demonstrations and direct action . As protection for the Springboks, the police created two special riot squads, the Red and Blue Squads. These police were, controversially, the first in New Zealand to be issued with visored riot helmets and long batons (more commonly the side-handle baton). Some protesters were intimidated and interpreted this initial police response as overkill and heavy-handed tactics. After early disruptions, police began to require that all spectators assemble in sports grounds at least an hour before kick-off. While the protests were meant to be largely peaceful resistance to the Springbok tour, quite often, there were 'violent confrontations with rugby supporters and specially trained riot police.' [16]

At Gisborne on the day before the match anti-tour activists, including Mereana Pitman, gained access to the pitch with a vehicle and tipped broken glass on the pitch. [17] On 22 July, [18] protesters managed to break through a fence, but quick action by spectators and ground security prevented the game being disrupted. Some protesters were beaten by police. From the very first match of the tour in Gisborne, protester tension levels ran high, and one protester, cartoonist Murray Ball , who was the son of an All Black, recalled that it ‘was strange for New Zealanders to feel so aggressive towards other New Zealanders’ and that he was 'scared as hell' when he came up against pro-tour defenders. [17]

Hamilton: Game cancelled

At Rugby Park, Hamilton (the site of today's Waikato Stadium ), on 25 July, [18] about 350 protesters invaded the pitch after pulling down a fence. The police arrested about 50 of them over a period of an hour, but were concerned that they could not control the rugby crowd, who were throwing bottles and other objects at the protesters. [19] Following reports that a stolen light plane (piloted by Pat McQuarrie) was approaching the stadium, police cancelled the match. [19]

The protesters were ushered from the ground and were advised by protest marshals to remove any anti-tour insignia from their attire, with enraged rugby spectators lashing out at them. Gangs of rugby supporters waited outside Hamilton police station for arrested protesters to be processed and released, and assaulted some protesters making their way into Victoria Street. [20] There are many reports from protesters feeling unsafe during this protest, ‘It was terrifying, I don’t know how big the crowd was, but they were clearly furious…The police looked vulnerable as they spread out around the whole ground,’ [21] recollects one protester who was at the Hamilton Game where a conflict between those for and against the tour broke out.

Wellington: Molesworth Street protest

The aftermath of the Hamilton game, followed by the bloody batoning of marchers in Wellington 's Molesworth Street in the following week, in which police batoned bare-headed protesters, led to the radicalisation of the protest movement. There are many instances where the protesters had to fear for their safety, especially considering the violence that began on Molesworth Street, where police are said to have “behaved rather too similarly to South African police,'' according to Tom Newnham . [22] Former police officer, Ross Muerant , who was pro-tour, speaks of the Molesworth St protest: "The protestors, who so obviously lacked self-control, were that evening privy to a classic display of discipline." [23] This perspective of the police tactics has severe opposition from anti-tour activists, with claims that protesters were 'savagely attacked by police,' and that ‘police provoked violence.' While Newnham's claims that the violence towards protesters from police was unjustified was likely true in his experience, Muerant maintains that there were protesters who intended to inflict "serious injury or disfigurement" on the police. [23]

Because of this, many protesters began to wear motorcycle or bicycle helmet s to protect themselves from batons and head injury . [24] [25]

The authorities strengthened security at public facilities after protesters disrupted telecommunications by damaging a waveguide on a microwave repeater , disrupting telephone and data services, though TV transmissions continued as they were carried by a separate waveguide on the tower. [26] Army engineers were deployed, and the remaining grounds were surrounded with razor wire and shipping container barricades to decrease the chances of another pitch invasion. At Eden Park, an emergency escape route was constructed from the visitors' changing rooms for use if the stadium was overrun by protesters. Crowds of anti-tour protesters stood outside as the police were overwhelmed but the hundreds of police still managed to prevent the protesters from entering the stadium. [27]

Christchurch

At Lancaster Park , Christchurch, on 15 August, [18] some protesters managed to break through a security cordon and a number invaded the pitch. They were quickly removed and forcibly ejected from the stadium by security staff and spectators. A large demonstration managed to occupy the street adjacent to the ground and confront the riot police. [28] Spectators were kept in the ground until the protesters dispersed.

Auckland: plane invasion

A low-flying Cessna 172 piloted by Marx Jones and Grant Cole disrupted the final test at Eden Park , Auckland , on 12 September [18] by dropping flour-bombs on the pitch. In spite of the bombing, the game continued. [29] "Patches" of criminal gangs, such as traditional rivals Black Power and the Mongrel Mob , were also evident (The Black Power were Muldoon supporters [30] ). Footage was shown of the Clowns Incident , where police were shown beating unarmed clown s with batons. [31] The same day in Warkworth, Dunedin and Timaru protesters stormed the local TV transmitters and shut off coverage of the Auckland game. [32]

The protest movement

Some of the protest had the dual purpose of linking racial discrimination against Māori in New Zealand to apartheid in South Africa. Some of the protesters, particularly young Māori, felt frustrated by the image of New Zealand as a paradise for racial unity. [12] Many opponents of racism in New Zealand in the early 1980s saw it as useful to use the protests against South Africa as a vehicle for wider social action. However, some Maori supported the tour and attended games. John Minto , the national organizer for HART , thought that the tour "stimulate[d] the whole debate about racism, and the place of Maori in our community." [33] Political activist Tom Newnham’s opinion echoes that of Minto’s, albeit considerably more radical, stating that "we are basically the same as white South Africans, just as racist." [34] Some of those protesting racism in South Africa felt inclined to reflect on the racial divide in their own country, before condemning another – part-maori rugby spectator Kevin Taylor did not join the protests because he ‘wanted New Zealand to fix its own issues before New Zealanders started telling other countries how to fix their problems.’ [35]

Tour of the United States

With the American leg of the tour following directly after the events of New Zealand, further protests and clashes with police were expected. Threats of riots caused city officials in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York City and Rochester to withdraw their previous authorisation for the Springboks to play in their cities.

The Springboks' match against the Midwest All Stars team had originally been intended to be played in Chicago. Following the anti-apartheid protests, it was secretly rescheduled to the mid morning of Saturday 19 September at Roosevelt Park in Racine, Wisconsin . The clandestine strategy seemingly worked as around 500 spectators gathered to watch the match. Late in the game, however, a small number of protesters arrived to disrupt proceedings and two were arrested after a brief altercation broke out on the field.

Albany: pipe bomb

The cancelled New York City match against the Eastern All Stars was moved upstate to Albany . The long serving Mayor of Albany, Erastus Corning, maintained that there was a right of peaceful assembly to "publicly espouse an unpopular cause," despite his own stated view that "I abhor everything about apartheid".

Governor Hugh Carey argued that the event should be barred as the anti-apartheid demonstrators presented an "imminent danger of riot", but a Federal court ruling allowing the game to be played was upheld in the United States Court of Appeals . A further appeal to Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall was also overruled on the grounds of free speech .

The match went ahead with around a thousand demonstrators (including Pete Seeger ) corralled 100 yards away from the field of play, which was surrounded by the police. No violence occurred at the game but a pipe bomb was set off in the early morning outside the headquarters of the Eastern Rugby Union resulting in damage to the building estimated at $50,000. No one was injured.

The final match of the tour, against the United States national team , took place in secret at Glenville in upstate New York. The thirty spectators recorded at the match is the lowest ever attendance for an international rugby match.

The matches

In new zealand, in united states, touring party.

• Manager: Johan Claassen Assistant Manager: Abe Williams
• Coach: Nelie Smith ( Free State )
• Captain: Wynand Claassen

The Muldoon government was re-elected in the 1981 election losing three seats to leave it with a majority of one.

The NZRU constitution contained much high-minded wording about promoting the image of rugby and New Zealand, and generally being a benefit to society. In 1985, the NZRU proposed an All Black tour of South Africa: two lawyers successfully sued it, claiming such a tour would breach its constitution. A High Court injunction by Justice Casey saw the tour cancelled. [40] [41]

Afterwards, the All Blacks would not tour South Africa until after the fall of the apartheid regime, with the next official tour in 1992. After the 1985 tour was cancelled, an unofficial tour took place a year later by a team that included 28 out of the 30 All Blacks selected for the 1985 tour, known as the New Zealand Cavaliers , a team that was often advertised in South Africa as the All Blacks and/or depicted with the Silver Fern.

The role of the police also became more controversial as a result of the tour.

After the All Blacks won the 1987 Rugby World Cup , rugby union was once again the dominant sport – in both spectator and participant numbers – in New Zealand. [42]

In New Zealand culture

• Prominent artist Ralph Hotere painted a Black Union Jack series of paintings in protest against the tour.
• Merata Mita 's documentary film Patu! tells the tale of the tour from a left-wing perspective. [43]
• Music popularly associated with the tour included the punk band RIOT 111 , and the songs "Riot Squad" by the Newmatics and "There Is No Depression in New Zealand" by Blam Blam Blam . [44]
• Ross Meurant , commander of the police " Red Squad ", published Red Squad Story in 1982, giving a conservative view.
• The TVNZ 1980s police drama Mortimer's Patch included a flashback episode of the (younger) main character's tour police duties
• In 1984 Geoff Chapple wrote the book 1981: The Tour , chronicling the events from the protesters' perspective.
• In 1999 Glenn Wood's biography Cop Out covered the tour from the perspective of a frontline policeman.
• David Hill's book The Name of the Game is the story of a schoolboy's personal struggles during the tour.
• Tom Newnham 's book By Batons And Barbed Wire is one of the largest collections of photos and general information of the protest movement during the tour. (hardback). (paperback)
• The documentary 1981: A Country at War chronicled the tour from various perspectives. [45]
• Te Papa has objects related to the tour including images, helmets [46] [47] and an entrance ticket. [48] The exhibition Slice of Heaven: 20th Century Aotearoa has a section about the tour. [49]
• Rage , a dramatisation of the tour by Tom Scott , was filmed in mid-2011 [50] [51] and was broadcast on TV One on 4 September 2011. [52]
• The Engine Room , a play by Ralph McCubbin Howell , opened at BATS Theatre in Wellington on 27 September 2011. It contrasts the stories and viewpoints of John Key and Helen Clark during the tour and the 2008 general election .
• The second series of the television show Westside takes place during the events of the tour and portrays the main characters' involvement in several of the major incidents.
• 1971 South Africa rugby union tour of Australia
• History of South Africa in the apartheid era
• Robert Muldoon Ces Blazey New Zealand Cavaliers
• Politics and sports
• Sporting boycott of South Africa

Bibliography

• Book: Cameron, Don. 1981. Barbed Wire Boks. Rugby Press Ltd. Auckland, New Zealand. 978-0-908630-05-9 .
• Book: Chapple, Geoff . 1984 . 1981: The Tour . A H & A W Reed . Wellington . 978-0-589-01534-3 .
• Book: Newnham, Tom. 1981. By Batons and Barbed Wire. Real Pictures Ltd. New Zealand. 978-0-473-00112-4 .
• Book: Richards, Trevor. 1999. Dancing on Our Bones: New Zealand, South Africa, Rugby and Racism . Bridget Williams Books . Wellington, New Zealand. 1-877-242-004 .

External links

• Posters at Christchurch City Libraries
• Images of the events surrounding the Springbok Tour in the collection of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
• Online account
• A time line and references
• The 1981 Springbok Tour
• The 1981 Springbok Tour, including history, images and video (NZHistory)
• Letters solicited from the New Zealand public after the 1981 Springbok Tour

Notes and References

• Web site: Say it in acid . 2 March 2023 . paperspast.natlib.govt.nz.
• News: 29 March 1976 . Message with a difference . The Press .
• Web site: WELCOME TO RACIST GAME . 2 March 2023 . paperspast.natlib.govt.nz.
• Web site: Rally in Cathedral square . 2 March 2023 . paperspast.natlib.govt.nz.
• News: 29 May 1976 . 1500 in City Protest . 15 . Christchurch Star.
• News: 26 July 1976 . Saboteurs try to cut rugby TV coverage . 1 . .
• Web site: When talk of racism is just not cricket . The Sydney Morning Herald . 16 December 2005 . 19 August 2007 .
• Web site: The whole world's watching . eprints.lse.ac.uk. 31 May 2023.
• Web site: Looking Back – Episode 11 – Parliament On Demand . 25 May 2023 . ondemand.parliament.nz.
• Web site: Gleneagles Agreement . 25 May 2023 . nzhistory.govt.nz . en.
• Web site: Politics and sport – 1981 Springbok tour . New Zealand history online . Nzhistory.net.nz . 24 February 2009 . 1 October 2009.
• Web site: Battle lines are drawn – 1981 Springbok tour | NZHistory.net.nz, New Zealand history online . Nzhistory.net.nz . 24 February 2009 . 1 October 2009.
• Web site: Impact – 1981 Springbok tour | . Nzhistory.net.nz . 1 October 2009.
• Web site: Who Takes the Blame — A Society Divided Over the Springbok Tour | NZETC . nzetc.victoria.ac.nz.
• Newnham, By Batons and Barbed Wire, p. 39
• Web site: Narrating the Springbok Tour . otago.ac.nz. 31 May 2023.
• Web site: Film: Gisborne game, 1981 Springbok tour NZHistory, New Zealand history online . 23 May 2023 . nzhistory.govt.nz.
• Web site: Tour diary – 1981 Springbok tour . New Zealand history online . Nzhistory.net.nz . 1 October 2009.
• http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/media/video/game-cancelled-in-hamilton Film: game cancelled in Hamilton, 1981 Springbok tour
• Web site: Film: game cancelled in Hamilton, 1981 Springbok tour | NZHistory.net.nz, New Zealand history online . Nzhistory.net.nz . 1 October 2009.
• Web site: Film: game cancelled in Hamilton, 1981 Springbok tour NZHistory, New Zealand history online . 23 May 2023 . nzhistory.govt.nz.
• Rankin . Elizabeth . January 2007 . Banners, batons and barbed wire: Anti-apartheid images of the Springbok rugby tour protests in New Zealand . De Arte . 42 . 76 . 21–32 . 10.1080/00043389.2007.11877076 . 127562230 . 0004-3389.
• Meurant . Jacques . February 1987 . Ces lieux où Henry Dunant… Story in stone… . International Review of the Red Cross . 27 . 256 . 123–124 . 10.1017/s0020860400061155 . 0020-8604.
• Web site: Film: clash on Molesworth St – 1981 Springbok tour | NZHistory.net.nz, New Zealand history online . Nzhistory.net.nz . 1 October 2009.
• Web site: 24 May 2008 . Eddie Gay . Minto's battered helmet to go on display at Te Papa . The New Zealand Herald . 1 October 2009.
• "Lecturer admits 1981 tour sabotage", The Press, 14 July 2001.
• Web site: Eden Park revamp uncovers secret escape route . The New Zealand Herald. 7 August 2008. 25 November 2014. Edward. Gay.
• Web site: The first test: Lancaster Park, Christchurch, 15 August 1981 . 9 February 2015. New Zealand History. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. 3 August 2016.
• Web site: Film: the third test – 1981 Springbok tour | NZHistory.net.nz, New Zealand history online . The New Zealand Herald . 1 October 2009.
• Book: Kayleen M . Hazlehurst . Cameron . Hazlehurst . Gangs and youth subcultures . Transaction . 2008. 9781412824323 .
• Web site: The code of silence over a tour's infamous bashing . The New Zealand Herald . 11 August 2001 . 1 October 2009 . Eugene . Bingham.
• News: Recalling the day rugby coverage was cut . Otago Daily Times. 28 May 2018. Paul. Gorman.
• Web site: John Minto – 1981 Springbok tour NZHistory, New Zealand history online . 23 May 2023 . nzhistory.govt.nz.
• "Man rugby fans hated", Sunday Star Times, 13 March 1994.
• Melissa A. Morrison . The Grassroots of the 1981 Springbok Tour: An examination of the actions and perspectives of everyday New Zealanders during the 1981 Springbok Rugby Tour of New Zealand . University of Canterbury. MA. 10.26021/4219. 2017. 10092/14533.
• Web site: Tour diary . nzhistory.govt.nz.
• http://journaltimes.com/news/local/from-the-archives-secret-site-curbs-rugby-protest/article_28d585fe-174a-11e3-b341-0019bb2963f4.html 1981: Secret site curbs rugby protest
• https://www.nytimes.com/1981/09/23/nyregion/protesters-in-albany-shout-as-springboks-triumph-in-rainfall.html Protesters in Albany shout as Springboks triumph in rainfall
• http://www.houstonpress.com/news/a-test-of-the-times-6559902 A Test of the Times
• Web site: Geoff . Adlam . Rt Hon Sir Maurice Eugene Casey, 1923 – 2012 . . 31 December 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150122175600/http://my.lawsociety.org.nz/in-practice/people/obituaries/obituaries-list/rt-hon-sir-maurice-eugene-casey-1923-2012 . 22 January 2015 . dead .
• News: 21 January 2012 . Yvonne . Tahana . Judge's ruling halted divisive All Black tour . . 31 December 2014.
• News: '87 Cup healed '81 tour's wounds . Otago Daily Times . 18 November 2005 . McMurran . Alister.
• Web site: NZ Feature Project: Patu! . New Zealand Film Archive . 4 August 2006 . 1 October 2009 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100522022620/http://www.filmarchive.org.nz/feature-project/pages/Patu.php . 22 May 2010.
• Web site: The Film Archive – Ready to Roll? | Blam Blam Blam – There is no Depression . https://web.archive.org/web/20110921084612/http://www.filmarchive.org.nz/readytoroll/view.php?id=28. dead. 21 September 2011.
• Web site: 1981: Hitting the Road . New Zealand Film Archive . 1 October 2009 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090809224720/http://www.filmarchive.org.nz/archive_presents/1981/1981.html . 9 August 2009 .
• Web site: Helmet . Collections Online . Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa . 20 November 2010.
• Web site: Ticket to Springboks versus Waikato rugby game at Rugby Park in Hamilton on 25 July 1981 . Collections Online . Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa . 20 November 2010.
• Web site: 1981 Springbok tour . Slice of Heaven – Diversity & civil rights . Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa . 20 November 2010.
• Web site: NZ On Air | News | Press Releases . https://web.archive.org/web/20140219171519/http://www.nzonair.govt.nz/news/newspressreleases/pressrelease_2010_12_21.aspx. dead. 19 February 2014.
• Web site: Springbok tour upheaval re-enacted with Rage . Rothwell . Kimberley . 19 May 2011 . Stuff: Entertainment . 14 September 2011.
• Web site: Sunday Theatre | Television New Zealand | Entertainment | TV One, TV2 . https://web.archive.org/web/20141125041855/https://www.tvnz.co.nz/sunday-theatre/rage-4342619 . 25 November 2014 .

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License . It uses material from the Wikipedia article " 1981 South Africa rugby union tour of New Zealand and the United States ".

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Springbok Tour 1981

A DigitalNZ Story by National Library of New Zealand Topics

Protests against the South African rugby team touring New Zealand divided the country in 1981. Discover the reasons behind this civil disobedience, as well as the demonstrations, police actions and the politics of playing sports. SCIS no. 1809122

social_sciences , english , history

Protesters in Hamilton during a demonstration against the 1981 Springbok tour - Photograph taken by Phil Reid

Alexander Turnbull Library

Anti-tour protestors and police in Molesworth Street, Wellington - Photograph taken by Ian Mackley

Okay, step forward any lyin' commy…,

Try revolution

This Leanne Pooley-directed film aims to show how the events of the 1981 Springbok tour in Aotearoa played out in South Africa.

NZ On Screen

The 1981 Springbok rugby tour

Manatū Taonga, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage

Sports and politics

Red Squad and anti- tour demonstrators

Springbok Tour protest programme

Protest badges - 1981

School children protesting

Young anti-springbok tour protester

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

Tour diary - 1981 Springbok tour

Blazey discussing the 1981 springbok tour.

Anti-Springbok tour protest reflects on thirty years since first game

Radio New Zealand

John Miller has documented M¬āori protest since the 1970's, including the Springbok Tour.

T-shirt, 'No Tour'

This T-shirt was made for protestors to wear during the Springbok rugby tour of 1981.

1956 rugby ball and John Minto helmet

Features the protester John Minto's helmet from Springbok rugby tour protests.

Barbed wire barrier protecting a rugby ground from anti-Springbok tour protestors.

TV movie Rage recreates the 1981 Springbok tour, which saw violent clashes between protestors and police.

Patu!, 1983

New Zealand 1981 South Africa 2013

Woman protestor angered by police batoning demonstrators during a Springbok rugby tour protest

These records are part of a July 1981 petition to Robert Muldoon, then-Prime Minister of New Zealand, calling for the Springbok rugby team to be refused entry into the country.

Petition Cards to Robert Muldoon

Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga

The Year 1981

Release Mandela!

These mugs were sold to raise money for protest funds for the 1981 anti-Springbok Tour movement.

The continuing saga of "The Tour"

Apartheid. Stop the tour

This badge was worn by protesters against contacts between South African and New Zealand sporting teams in the 1970s.

Halt All Racist Tours badge

Services to Schools

Women against the 1981 tour

Don't mention the tour

The 1981 springbok tour, the 1981 springbok tour of new zealand, 1981 springbok tour: poster collection, riot 111: 1981, the great divide, the rugby tour that split us into two nations.

PR 24 baton

Rugby and apartheid

1981 Anti-Springbok tour demonstration

The springbok tour of 1981 – 25 years on.

“He aint dead Sir”

Anti-tour clash

1981 Springbok tour

National Library of New Zealand

NZSIS reports on 1981 Springbok rugby tour protests

Red squad revisited, 1981 springbok tour perspectives, the 1981 springbok tour and explosive revelations, tainted games.

1981 Springbok tour images

Research paper

National ideals or national interest: New Zealand and South Africa, 1981 - 1994

Clash on molesworth st, mirror image, artists against the springbok tour, anti-springbok-tour veterans on the power of hart, remembering the 1981 springbok tour, more than just rugby, a tour like no other: school journal year 7: part 04 no. 02: 2011 or, opinion around new zealand on the 1981 springbok tour, rugby, racism and fear, the grassroots of the 1981 springbok tour.

Merata Mita’s Patu! — a landmark in Aotearoa's film history, is based on the civil disobedience movement during the winter of 1981 Springbok tour.

New Zealand Protests

The Dawn Raids

Māori Protests

Covering the springbok tour, 1981 springbok rugby tour — cardboard and clown suits.

NZ Sporting History: The 1981 Springbok Tour

35 years ago: springbok tour protests in wellington, covering the tour, protest - tohe.

1981 South Africa rugby union tour of New Zealand and the United States

The 1981 South African rugby tour (known in New Zealand as the Springbok Tour , and in South Africa as the Rebel Tour ) polarised opinions and inspired widespread protests across New Zealand. The controversy also extended to the United States, where the South African rugby team continued their tour after departing New Zealand. [1] [2]

Tour of New Zealand

Hamilton: game cancelled, wellington: molesworth street protest, christchurch, auckland: plane invasion, the protest movement, tour of the united states, albany: pipe bomb, the matches, in new zealand, in united states, touring party, in new zealand culture, notes and references, bibliography, external links.

Apartheid had made South Africa an international pariah , and other countries were strongly discouraged from having sporting contacts with it. Rugby union was (and is) an extremely popular sport in New Zealand, and the South African team known as the Springboks were considered to be New Zealand's most formidable opponents. [3] Therefore, there was a major split in opinion in New Zealand as to whether politics should influence sport in this way and whether the Springboks should be allowed to tour.

Despite the controversy, the New Zealand Rugby Union decided to proceed with the tour. The government of Prime Minister Robert Muldoon was called on to ban it, but decided that commitments under the Gleneagles Agreement did not require the government to prevent the tour, and decided not to interfere due to their public position of "no politics in sport". Major protests ensued, aiming to make clear many New Zealanders' opposition to apartheid and, if possible, to stop the matches taking place. This was successful at two games, but also had the effect of creating a law and order issue: whether a group of protesters could be allowed to prevent a lawful game taking place.

The dispute was similar to that involving Peter Hain in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s, when Hain's Stop the Tour campaign clashed with the more conservative 'Freedom Under Law' movement championed by barrister Francis Bennion . The allegedly excessive police response to the protests also became a focus of controversy. Although the protests were among the most intense in New Zealand's recent history, no deaths or serious injuries resulted.

After the tour, no official sporting contact took place between New Zealand and South Africa until the early 1990s, after apartheid had been abolished. The tour has been said to have led to a decline in the popularity of Rugby Union in New Zealand, until the 1987 Rugby World Cup .

The Springboks and New Zealand's national rugby team, the All Blacks , have a long tradition of intense and friendly sporting rivalry. [4]

From 1948 to 1969, the South African apartheid regime affected team selection for the All Blacks, with selectors passing over Māori players for some All Black tours to South Africa. [5]

Opposition to sending race -based teams to South Africa grew throughout the 1950s and 1960s, and prior to the All Blacks' tour of South Africa in 1960, 150,000 New Zealanders – 6.25% of the country's population at that time – signed a petition supporting a policy of "No Maoris, No Tour". [5] Despite this, the tour still happened, and in 1969, Halt All Racist Tours (HART) was formed. [6]

During the 1970s, public protests and political pressure forced on the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRFU) the choice of either fielding a team not selected by race, or not touring South Africa: [5] after South African rugby authorities continued to select Springbok players by race, [4] the Norman Kirk Labour Government barred the Springboks from touring New Zealand during 1973. [6] In response, the NZRFU protested about the involvement of "politics in sport".

On 28 March 1976, the final game of ex-All Black Fergie McCormick was played at Lancaster Park in Christchurch, to which two Springbok players had been invited. Ten days before the game, protesters had written "WELCOME TO RACIST GAME" in 20-foot high letters on the pitch using weed-killer. [7] [8] [9]

The All Blacks toured South Africa with the blessing of the newly elected New Zealand Prime Minister, Robert Muldoon . [10] In response to this, twenty-five African nations boycotted the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, [11] stating that in their view, the All Blacks tour gave tacit support to the apartheid regime in South Africa: the IOC declined to ban New Zealand from the Olympics on the grounds that rugby union was no longer an Olympic sport.

The 1976 tour attracted several anti-apartheid protests in New Zealand, including one on 28 May 1976 in Cathedral Square, Christchurch which attracted 1000–1500 people and included guerrilla theatre. [12] [13] Protesters also attempted to disrupt television coverage of the first test by vandalising the Makara Hill microwave station in Wellington, which was responsible for relaying programming in and out of TV One 's Avalon studios. [14]

The 1976 tour contributed to the creation of the Gleneagles Agreement , that was adopted by the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in 1977. [15]

By the early 1980s, the pressure from other countries and from protest groups in New Zealand such as HART reached a head when the NZRU proposed a Springbok tour for 1981. This became a topic of political contention due to the international sports boycott . After the Australian Prime Minister, Malcolm Fraser , refused permission for the Springboks' aircraft to refuel in Australia, [16] the Springboks' flights to and from New Zealand went via Los Angeles and Hawaii. [17]

Despite pressure for the Muldoon government to cancel the tour, permission was granted for it, and the Springboks arrived in New Zealand on 19 July 1981. Since 1977 Muldoon's government had been a party to the Gleneagles Agreement , in which the countries of the Commonwealth accepted that it was:

the urgent duty of each of their Governments vigorously to combat the evil of apartheid by withholding any form of support for, and by taking every practical step to discourage contact or competition by their nationals with sporting organisations, teams or sportsmen from South Africa or from any other country where sports are organised on the basis of race, colour or ethnic origin.

Despite this, Muldoon also argued that New Zealand was a free and democratic country, and that "politics should stay out of sport." In the years following the Gleneagles Agreement, it seemed that New Zealand government members did not feel bound to the Gleneagles agreement, and disregarded it. However, some historians claim that, "'the [Gleneagles] agreement remained vague enough to avoid the New Zealand government from having to use coercive powers such as withdrawing visas and passports."' [18] This means Muldoon's government technically wasn't bound to the agreement to the extent it outwardly appeared to the public. In addition to this, Ben Couch , who was the minister for Maori development at the time, stated, 'I believe that the Gleneagles agreement has been forced upon us by people who do not have the same kind of democracy that we have.' [19]

Muldoon made some effort to discourage the tour and stated that he could see ‘nothing but trouble coming from this.’ [20] ‘ A Springbok tour would dash to the ground all that has been achieved as a result of international acceptance ,' wrote deputy Prime Minister Brian Talboys to the chairman of the NZRFU in a further attempt to discourage the tour, ' [the tour] may affect the harmonious development of the Commonwealth and international sport .' [18]

Some rugby supporters echoed the separation of politics and sport, [21] [22] while other rugby supporters argued that if the tour were cancelled, there would be no reporting of the widespread criticism of apartheid in New Zealand in the controlled South African media.

Muldoon's critics felt that he allowed the tour in order for his National Party to secure the votes of rural and provincial conservatives in the general election later in the year, which Muldoon won. [23] Along with Muldoon's policy of ‘leaving sporting contacts to sporting bodies,’ Muldoon also held the opinion that the disruption and division of New Zealand was not caused by the NZFRU, nor the Springboks, but the anti-tour protesters themselves. [24] This argument was vehemently refuted by anti-tour voices, political activist Tom Newnham claimed that the government enabled ‘the greatest breakdown in law and order [New Zealand] has ever witnessed.’ [25]

The ensuing public protests polarised New Zealand: [23] while rugby fans filled the football grounds, protest crowds filled the surrounding streets, and on one occasion succeeded in invading the pitch and stopping the game. [26]

To begin with, the anti-tour movement was committed to non-violent civil disobedience , demonstrations and direct action . [ citation needed ] As protection for the Springboks, the police created two special riot squads, the Red and Blue Squads. [27] [28] These police were, controversially, the first in New Zealand to be issued with visored riot helmets and long batons (more commonly the side-handle baton ). [ citation needed ] Some protesters were intimidated and interpreted this initial police response as overkill and heavy-handed tactics. [ citation needed ] After early disruptions, police began to require that all spectators assemble in sports grounds at least an hour before kick-off. [ citation needed ] While the protests were meant to be largely peaceful resistance to the Springbok tour, quite often, there were 'violent confrontations with rugby supporters and specially trained riot police.' [29]

At Gisborne on the day before the match anti-tour activists, including Mereana Pitman, gained access to the pitch with a vehicle and tipped broken glass on the pitch. [30] On 22 July, [31] protesters managed to break through a fence, but quick action by spectators and ground security prevented the game being disrupted. Some protesters were beaten by police. From the very first match of the tour in Gisborne, protester tension levels ran high, and one protester, cartoonist Murray Ball , who was the son of an All Black, recalled that it ‘was strange for New Zealanders to feel so aggressive towards other New Zealanders’ and that he was 'scared as hell' when he came up against pro-tour defenders. [30]

• MP for Tamaki
• Electoral history

Leader of the National Party

• 1974 leadership election
• 1984 leadership election

Leader of the Opposition

• Shadow Cabinet I
• Dancing Cossacks advertisement

Prime Minister of New Zealand

• Third National Government
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• Bastion Point Occupation
• Carless days
• 1981 Springbok Tour
• Closer Economic Relations
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General elections

At Rugby Park, Hamilton (the site of today's Waikato Stadium ), on 25 July, [31] about 350 protesters invaded the pitch after pulling down a fence. The police arrested about 50 of them over a period of an hour, but were concerned that they could not control the rugby crowd, who were throwing bottles and other objects at the protesters. [32] Following reports that a stolen light plane (piloted by Pat McQuarrie) [33] was approaching the stadium, police cancelled the match. [32]

The protesters were ushered from the ground and were advised by protest marshals to remove any anti-tour insignia from their attire, with enraged rugby spectators lashing out at them. Gangs of rugby supporters waited outside Hamilton police station for arrested protesters to be processed and released, and assaulted some protesters making their way into Victoria Street. [34] There are many reports from protesters feeling unsafe during this protest, ‘It was terrifying, I don’t know how big the crowd was, but they were clearly furious…The police looked vulnerable as they spread out around the whole ground,’ [35] recollects one protester who was at the Hamilton Game where a conflict between those for and against the tour broke out.

The aftermath of the Hamilton game, followed by the bloody batoning of marchers in Wellington 's Molesworth Street in the following week, in which police batoned bare-headed protesters, led to the radicalisation of the protest movement. There are many instances where the protesters had to fear for their safety, especially considering the violence that began on Molesworth Street, where police are said to have “behaved rather too similarly to South African police, '' according to Tom Newnham . [36] Former police officer, Ross Muerant , who was pro-tour, speaks of the Molesworth St protest: "The protestors, who so obviously lacked self-control, were that evening privy to a classic display of discipline." [37] This perspective of the police tactics has severe opposition from anti-tour activists, with claims that protesters were 'savagely attacked by police,' and that ‘police provoked violence.' [29] While Newnham's claims that the violence towards protesters from police was unjustified was likely true in his experience, Muerant maintains that there were protesters who intended to inflict "serious injury or disfigurement" on the police. [37]

Because of this, many protesters began to wear motorcycle or bicycle helmets to protect themselves from batons and head injury . [38] [39]

The authorities strengthened security at public facilities after protesters disrupted telecommunications by damaging a waveguide on a microwave repeater , disrupting telephone and data services, though TV transmissions continued as they were carried by a separate waveguide on the tower. [40] Army engineers were deployed, [ citation needed ] and the remaining grounds were surrounded with razor wire and shipping container barricades to decrease the chances of another pitch invasion. At Eden Park, an emergency escape route was constructed from the visitors' changing rooms for use if the stadium was overrun by protesters. Crowds of anti-tour protesters stood outside as the police were overwhelmed but the hundreds of police still managed to prevent the protesters from entering the stadium. [41]

At Lancaster Park , Christchurch, on 15 August, [31] some protesters managed to break through a security cordon and a number invaded the pitch. [ citation needed ] They were quickly removed and forcibly ejected from the stadium by security staff and spectators. [ citation needed ] A large demonstration managed to occupy the street adjacent to the ground and confront the riot police. [42] Spectators were kept in the ground until the protesters dispersed. [ citation needed ]

A low-flying Cessna 172 piloted by Marx Jones and Grant Cole disrupted the final test at Eden Park , Auckland , on 12 September [31] by dropping flour-bombs on the pitch. In spite of the bombing, the game continued. [43] "Patches" of criminal gangs, such as traditional rivals Black Power and the Mongrel Mob , were also evident [ citation needed ] (The Black Power were Muldoon supporters [44] ). Footage [ according to whom? ] was shown of the Clowns Incident , where police were shown beating unarmed clowns with batons. [45] The same day in Warkworth, Dunedin and Timaru protesters stormed the local TV transmitters and shut off coverage of the Auckland game. [46] [47]

Some of the protest had the dual purpose of linking racial discrimination against Māori in New Zealand to apartheid in South Africa. Some of the protesters, particularly young Māori, felt frustrated by the image of New Zealand as a paradise for racial unity. [22] Many opponents of racism in New Zealand in the early 1980s saw it as useful to use the protests against South Africa as a vehicle for wider social action. [ citation needed ] However, some Maori supported the tour and attended games. [ citation needed ] John Minto , the national organizer for HART , thought that the tour "stimulate[d] the whole debate about racism, and the place of Maori in our community." [48] Political activist Tom Newnham’s opinion echoes that of Minto’s, albeit considerably more radical, stating that "we are basically the same as white South Africans, just as racist." [49] Some of those protesting racism in South Africa felt inclined to reflect on the racial divide in their own country, before condemning another – part-maori rugby spectator Kevin Taylor did not join the protests because he ‘wanted New Zealand to fix its own issues before New Zealanders started telling other countries how to fix their problems.’ [50]

With the American leg of the tour following directly after the events of New Zealand, further protests and clashes with police were expected. [2] Threats of riots caused city officials in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York City and Rochester to withdraw their previous authorisation for the Springboks to play in their cities. [2]

The Springboks' match against the Midwest All Stars team had originally been intended to be played in Chicago. Following the anti-apartheid protests, it was secretly rescheduled to the mid morning of Saturday 19 September at Roosevelt Park in Racine, Wisconsin . [51] The clandestine strategy seemingly worked as around 500 spectators gathered to watch the match. Late in the game, however, a small number of protesters arrived to disrupt proceedings and two were arrested after a brief altercation broke out on the field. [51]

The cancelled New York City match against the Eastern All Stars was moved upstate to Albany . [52] The long serving Mayor of Albany, Erastus Corning, maintained that there was a right of peaceful assembly to "publicly espouse an unpopular cause," despite his own stated view that "I abhor everything about apartheid". [51]

Governor Hugh Carey argued that the event should be barred as the anti-apartheid demonstrators presented an "imminent danger of riot", but a Federal court ruling allowing the game to be played was upheld in the United States Court of Appeals . A further appeal to Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall was also overruled on the grounds of free speech . [52]

The match went ahead with around a thousand demonstrators (including Pete Seeger ) corralled 100 yards away from the field of play, which was surrounded by the police. No violence occurred at the game but a pipe bomb was set off in the early morning outside the headquarters of the Eastern Rugby Union resulting in damage to the building estimated at $50,000. [52] No one was injured.

The final match of the tour, against the United States national team , took place in secret at Glenville in upstate New York. [53] The thirty spectators recorded at the match is the lowest ever attendance for an international rugby match. [1]

• Manager: Johan Claassen
• Assistant Manager: Abe Williams
• Coach: Nelie Smith ( Free State )
• Captain: Wynand Claassen

The Muldoon government was re-elected in the 1981 election losing three seats to leave it with a majority of one.

The NZRU constitution contained much high-minded wording about promoting the image of rugby and New Zealand, and generally being a benefit to society. In 1985, the NZRU proposed an All Black tour of South Africa: two lawyers successfully sued it, claiming such a tour would breach its constitution. A High Court injunction by Justice Casey saw the tour cancelled. [55] [56]

Afterwards, the All Blacks would not tour South Africa until after the fall of the apartheid regime, with the next official tour in 1992. After the 1985 tour was cancelled, an unofficial tour took place a year later by a team that included 28 out of the 30 All Blacks selected for the 1985 tour, known as the New Zealand Cavaliers , a team that was often advertised in South Africa as the All Blacks and/or depicted with the Silver Fern.

The role of the police also became more controversial as a result of the tour. [ citation needed ]

After the All Blacks won the 1987 Rugby World Cup , rugby union was once again the dominant sport – in both spectator and participant numbers – in New Zealand. [57]

• Prominent artist Ralph Hotere painted a Black Union Jack series of paintings in protest against the tour.
• Merata Mita 's documentary film Patu! tells the tale of the tour from a left-wing perspective. [58]
• Music popularly associated with the tour included the punk band RIOT 111 , and the songs "Riot Squad" by the Newmatics and "There Is No Depression in New Zealand" by Blam Blam Blam . [59]
• The TVNZ 1980s police drama Mortimer's Patch included a flashback episode of the (younger) main character's tour police duties
• In 1984 Geoff Chapple wrote the book 1981: The Tour , chronicling the events from the protesters' perspective. ISBN   978-0-589-01534-3
• In 1999 Glenn Wood's biography Cop Out covered the tour from the perspective of a frontline policeman. ISBN   978-0-908704-89-7
• David Hill's book The Name of the Game is the story of a schoolboy's personal struggles during the tour. ISBN   978-0-908783-63-2
• Tom Newnham 's book By Batons And Barbed Wire is one of the largest collections of photos and general information of the protest movement during the tour. ISBN   978-0-473-00253-4 (hardback). ISBN   978-0-473-00112-4 (paperback)
• The documentary 1981: A Country at War chronicled the tour from various perspectives. [60]
• Te Papa has objects related to the tour including images, helmets [61] [62] and an entrance ticket. [63] The exhibition Slice of Heaven: 20th Century Aotearoa has a section about the tour. [64]
• Rage , a dramatisation of the tour by Tom Scott , was filmed in mid-2011 [65] [66] and was broadcast on TV One on 4 September 2011. [67]
• The Engine Room , a play by Ralph McCubbin Howell , opened at BATS Theatre in Wellington on 27 September 2011. It contrasts the stories and viewpoints of John Key and Helen Clark during the tour and the 2008 general election .
• The second series of the television show Westside takes place during the events of the tour and portrays the main characters' involvement in several of the major incidents.
• 1971 South Africa rugby union tour of Australia
• History of South Africa in the apartheid era
• Robert Muldoon
• New Zealand Cavaliers
• Politics and sports
• Sporting boycott of South Africa
• 1 2 Miller, Chuck (10 April 1995). "Rugby in the national spotlight: The 1981 USA tour of the Springboks" . Rugby Magazine . Archived from the original on 22 October 2007 . Retrieved 14 May 2014 .
• 1 2 3 Grondahl, Paul (6 December 2013). "All eyes were on Albany and Apartheid in 1981" . Times Union . Archived from the original on 13 May 2015 . Retrieved 13 May 2015 .
• ↑ "All Blacks versus Springboks" . nzhistory.net.nz. 12 June 2014 . Retrieved 13 May 2015 .
• 1 2 Watters, Steve. "A long tradition of rugby rivalry" . nzhistory.net.nz . Retrieved 17 January 2007 .
• 1 2 3 Watters, Steve. " 'Politics and sport don't mix' " . nzhistory.net.nz . Retrieved 17 January 2007 .
• 1 2 Watters, Steve. "Stopping the 1973 tour" . nzhistory.net.nz . Retrieved 17 January 2007 .
• ↑ "Say it in acid" . paperspast.natlib.govt.nz . Retrieved 2 March 2023 .
• ↑ "Message with a difference" . The Press . 29 March 1976.
• ↑ "WELCOME TO RACIST GAME" . paperspast.natlib.govt.nz . Retrieved 2 March 2023 .
• ↑ Fortuin, Gregory (20 July 2006). "It's time to close the final chapter". The New Zealand Herald .
• ↑ "On This Day 17   July 1976" . BBC. 17 July 1976 . Retrieved 17 January 2007 .
• ↑ "Rally in Cathedral square" . paperspast.natlib.govt.nz . Retrieved 2 March 2023 .
• ↑ "1500 in City Protest". Christchurch Star . 29 May 1976. p.   15.
• ↑ "Saboteurs try to cut rugby TV coverage" . The Press . 26 July 1976. p.   1.
• ↑ Watters, Steve. "From Montreal to Gleneagles" . nzhistory.net.nz . Retrieved 17 January 2007 .
• ↑ "When talk of racism is just not cricket" . The Sydney Morning Herald . 16 December 2005 . Retrieved 19 August 2007 .
• ↑ Chapple 1984 , p.   60.
• 1 2 "The whole world's watching" (PDF) . eprints.lse.ac.uk . Retrieved 31 May 2023 .
• ↑ "Looking Back – Episode 11 – Parliament On Demand" . ondemand.parliament.nz . Retrieved 25 May 2023 .
• ↑ "Gleneagles Agreement" . nzhistory.govt.nz . Retrieved 25 May 2023 .
• ↑ "Politics and sport – 1981 Springbok tour" . New Zealand history online . Nzhistory.net.nz. 24 February 2009 . Retrieved 1 October 2009 .
• 1 2 "Battle lines are drawn – 1981 Springbok tour | NZHistory.net.nz, New Zealand history online" . Nzhistory.net.nz. 24 February 2009 . Retrieved 1 October 2009 .
• 1 2 "Impact – 1981 Springbok tour | " . Nzhistory.net.nz . Retrieved 1 October 2009 .
• ↑ "Who Takes the Blame — A Society Divided Over the Springbok Tour | NZETC" . nzetc.victoria.ac.nz .
• ↑ Newnham, By Batons and Barbed Wire, p. 39
• ↑ Ardern, Crystal (22 July 2006). "Springbok Tour 1981" . Waikato Times . Archived from the original on 15 October 2008.
• ↑ "Protest! The Voice of Dissent at the Nelson Provincial Museum" (PDF) . Evidence . New Zealand Police Museum. April 2007. p.   2.
• ↑ "Springbok Tour Special | CLOSE UP News" . TVNZ. 4 July 2006 . Retrieved 1 October 2009 .
• 1 2 "Narrating the Springbok Tour" (PDF) . otago.ac.nz . Retrieved 31 May 2023 .
• 1 2 "Film: Gisborne game, 1981 Springbok tour | NZHistory, New Zealand history online" . nzhistory.govt.nz . Retrieved 23 May 2023 .
• 1 2 3 4 "Tour diary – 1981 Springbok tour" . New Zealand history online . Nzhistory.net.nz . Retrieved 1 October 2009 .
• 1 2 Film: game cancelled in Hamilton, 1981 Springbok tour , Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Updated 11 May 2007. Retrieved 24 December 2008.
• ↑ Chapple 1984 , pp.   77–78, 91, 99–102.
• ↑ "Film: game cancelled in Hamilton, 1981 Springbok tour | NZHistory.net.nz, New Zealand history online" . Nzhistory.net.nz . Retrieved 1 October 2009 .
• ↑ "Film: game cancelled in Hamilton, 1981 Springbok tour | NZHistory, New Zealand history online" . nzhistory.govt.nz . Retrieved 23 May 2023 .
• ↑ Rankin, Elizabeth (January 2007). "Banners, batons and barbed wire: Anti-apartheid images of the Springbok rugby tour protests in New Zealand" . De Arte . 42 (76): 21–32. doi : 10.1080/00043389.2007.11877076 . ISSN   0004-3389 . S2CID   127562230 .
• 1 2 Meurant, Jacques (February 1987). "Ces lieux où Henry Dunant… Story in stone… " . International Review of the Red Cross . 27 (256): 123–124. doi : 10.1017/s0020860400061155 . ISSN   0020-8604 .
• ↑ "Film: clash on Molesworth St – 1981 Springbok tour | NZHistory.net.nz, New Zealand history online" . Nzhistory.net.nz . Retrieved 1 October 2009 .
• ↑ Eddie Gay (24 May 2008). "Minto's battered helmet to go on display at Te Papa" . The New Zealand Herald . Retrieved 1 October 2009 .
• ↑ "Lecturer admits 1981 tour sabotage", The Press, 14 July 2001.
• ↑ Gay, Edward (7 August 2008). "Eden Park revamp uncovers secret escape route" . The New Zealand Herald . Retrieved 25 November 2014 .
• ↑ "The first test: Lancaster Park, Christchurch, 15 August 1981" . New Zealand History . Ministry for Culture and Heritage. 9 February 2015 . Retrieved 3 August 2016 .
• ↑ "Film: the third test – 1981 Springbok tour | NZHistory.net.nz, New Zealand history online" . The New Zealand Herald . Retrieved 1 October 2009 .
• ↑ Hazlehurst, Kayleen M; Hazlehurst, Cameron, eds. (2008). Gangs and youth subcultures . Transaction. ISBN   9781412824323 . [ dead link ]
• ↑ Bingham, Eugene (11 August 2001). "The code of silence over a tour's infamous bashing" . The New Zealand Herald . Retrieved 1 October 2009 .
• ↑ Gorman, Paul (28 May 2018). "Recalling the day rugby coverage was cut" . Otago Daily Times .
• ↑ Chapple 1984 , pp.   288–291.
• ↑ "John Minto – 1981 Springbok tour | NZHistory, New Zealand history online" . nzhistory.govt.nz . Retrieved 23 May 2023 .
• ↑ "Man rugby fans hated", Sunday Star Times, 13 March 1994.
• ↑ Melissa A. Morrison (2017). The Grassroots of the 1981 Springbok Tour: An examination of the actions and perspectives of everyday New Zealanders during the 1981 Springbok Rugby Tour of New Zealand (MA thesis). University of Canterbury. doi : 10.26021/4219 . hdl : 10092/14533 .
• 1 2 3 4 1981: Secret site curbs rugby protest . The Journal Times. 8 September 2013.
• 1 2 3 4 Protesters in Albany shout as Springboks triumph in rainfall . The New York Times . 23 September 1981.
• 1 2 A Test of the Times . Houston Press. 13 December 2001.
• ↑ "Tour diary" . nzhistory.govt.nz .
• ↑ Adlam, Geoff. "Rt Hon Sir Maurice Eugene Casey, 1923 – 2012" . New Zealand Law Society . Archived from the original on 22 January 2015 . Retrieved 31 December 2014 .
• ↑ Tahana, Yvonne (21 January 2012). "Judge's ruling halted divisive All Black tour" . The New Zealand Herald . Retrieved 31 December 2014 .
• ↑ McMurran, Alister (18 November 2005). " '87 Cup healed '81 tour's wounds". Otago Daily Times .
• ↑ "NZ Feature Project: Patu!" . New Zealand Film Archive. 4 August 2006. Archived from the original on 22 May 2010 . Retrieved 1 October 2009 .
• ↑ "The Film Archive – Ready to Roll? | Blam Blam Blam – There is no Depression" . Archived from the original on 21 September 2011.
• ↑ "1981: Hitting the Road" . New Zealand Film Archive. Archived from the original on 9 August 2009 . Retrieved 1 October 2009 .
• ↑ "Helmet" . Collections Online . Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa . Retrieved 20 November 2010 .
• ↑ "Ticket to Springboks versus Waikato rugby game at Rugby Park in Hamilton on 25   July 1981" . Collections Online . Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa . Retrieved 20 November 2010 .
• ↑ "1981 Springbok tour" . Slice of Heaven – Diversity & civil rights . Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa . Retrieved 20 November 2010 .
• ↑ "NZ On Air | News | Press Releases" . Archived from the original on 19 February 2014.
• ↑ Rothwell, Kimberley (19 May 2011). "Springbok tour upheaval re-enacted with Rage" . Stuff: Entertainment . Retrieved 14 September 2011 .
• ↑ "Sunday Theatre | Television New Zealand | Entertainment | TV One, TV2" . Archived from the original on 25 November 2014.
• Cameron, Don (1981). Barbed Wire Boks . Auckland, New Zealand: Rugby Press Ltd. ISBN   978-0-908630-05-9 .
• Chapple, Geoff (1984). 1981: The Tour . Wellington: A H & A W Reed. ISBN   978-0-589-01534-3 .
• Newnham, Tom (1981). By Batons and Barbed Wire . New Zealand: Real Pictures Ltd. ISBN   978-0-473-00112-4 .
• Richards, Trevor (1999). Dancing on Our Bones: New Zealand, South Africa, Rugby and Racism . Wellington, New Zealand: Bridget Williams Books. ISBN   1-877-242-004 .
• Posters at Christchurch City Libraries
• Images of the events surrounding the Springbok Tour in the collection of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
• Online account
• A time line and references
• The 1981 Springbok Tour
• The 1981 Springbok Tour, including history, images and video (NZHistory)
• Letters solicited from the New Zealand public after the 1981 Springbok Tour [ permanent dead link ]

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The following lists events that happened during 1981 in New Zealand .

Halt All Racist Tours ( HART ) was a protest group set up in New Zealand in 1969 to protest against rugby union tours to and from South Africa. Founding member Trevor Richards served as president for its first 10 years, with fellow founding member John Minto then serving as president until South Africa dismantled apartheid in the early 1990s.

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Patu! is a 1983 New Zealand documentary film directed by Merata Mita about the controversial 1981 Springbok tour. It follows the inner workings of the campaign against the tour, and captures scenes of violent conflict between police and protesters. It is a significant work of activist and indigenous filmmaking, and of New Zealand filmmaking in general.

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SOUTH AFRICAN RUGBY TOUR

By Tom Selfridge

• Aug. 2, 1981

THE Springboks of South Africa are coming to the United States to play three rugby matches next month. As the president of the Eastern Rugby Union and a past international player for the United States, I invited the Springboks to play here in an effort to give our athletes better competition and upgrade our sport.

None of the organizers judge the political systems of the teams they play. In fact no consideration is given to the background of these private independent sports teams off the field whether they be the Springboks from South Africa, the All Blacks from New Zealand or the Colonials from the Eastern Rugby Union of the United States.

The American rugby adminstration is interested in the development of the sport. Top-class competition and attracting world-class athletes is our only goal. If the Darth Vader Rugby Club were coming on tour to the United States, I am sure we could arrange plenty of matches.

The Springboks represent the premier rugby organization in the world of amateur sport. The approach to the game is similar to the New York Yankees, the Dallas Cowboys, the Boston Celtics. All sports teams from little league on up will bring up all sorts of emotions to their fans. Saying the Springboks represent more than just a sports team is like saying that George Steinbrenner or Tom Landry run the cities of New York or Dallas. The Cleveland Orchestra is world famous for the beautiful and precise music it presents. The board of directors of the orchestra is made up powerful civic and industrial leaders. Is the city of Cleveland presenting a propaganda front? Does the orchestra reflect life in Cleveland for all of its people?

The statement sports and politics do not mix is very true. We only have to go back to the 1980 Olympics and examine the success of the introduction of pure politics into sport. A year later we find the Russians in Afghanistan, the United States track and field teams in Russia and the careers of hundreds of our most outstanding athletes shattered. In 1924 France was the site of the Olympics and introduced rugby to the Games but the major rugby countries did not participate. After the 1924 rugby voted not to be an Olympic sport. The Games were too political.

We hail the 1936 Olympics as a great victory for the United States because Jesse Owens, an American black, won four gold medals while Hitler watched, achieving a great ''political victory.'' But why were Marty Glickman and Sam Stoller, American Jews, left to watch although they were scheduled to run?

The 1980 Lake Placid Olympics is another story. How loudly we cheered and how long we celebrated at the victory of our team over the Russians. A victory of one system over another? How many competitors in other sports received the same adulation for victories over Canada or Sweden or the United States?

Perhaps we should consider the consequences of not being hypocritical and saying let's go all the way with politics in sports. Would Mayor Koch then arrange for the New York police to detain other teams or take out selected players for questioning to insure New York City team wins, or would the State Department not issue visas to certain competitors in the 1984 Olympics to insure gold?

The real issue comes down to the rights of an independent private sports organization being allowed to schedule and play its games against any other similar organization. The Springboks are not politicians. They do not set or make any policy in South Africa. In fact, the team is multiracial, selected on ability and open to all players in South Africa. This isn't the first South African rugby team to come to the United States recently. The people who do not like the policies of South Africa or the United States should go to the seats of government in Pretoria or Washington to protest, and allow the sportsmen to play their games in the stadiums of Chicago, Albany and New York City. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Tom Selfridge is president of an industrial valve and fitting company in upstate New York and president of the Eastern Rugby Union.

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Te matapihi ki te ao nui, te haerenga a ngā piringa pāka ki aotearoa i te tau 1981 the 1981 springbok tour of new zealand.

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The rivalry between the Springboks and the All Blacks is one of the longest and most enduring between two sporting nations. In the past, generations of rugby players and enthusiasts from both countries viewed a series victory over the other nation as being the pinnacle of achievement in the sport. Alongside the history of fierce competition went a tradition of hospitality towards the visiting side.

In 1956 and 1965 when the South African rugby team toured New Zealand, they were showered with warmth and generosity wherever they went. Yet 25 years later, the 1981 Springbok tour became one of the most divisive events in New Zealand history.

Its impact went far beyond the rugby ground as communities and families divided and tensions spilled out onto the streets and into the living rooms of the nation. What were the events that made this tour so significant? What motivated ordinary Kiwis to take such extraordinary action against one another?

Although things had been far from perfect between my parents, the Springbok tour caused such tension and stress that we could not live together in the same house and function as a family unit. An example of the increase was when we, as a family, watched the evening news. Often one side would raise their voices in abuse and offensive name calling towards public figures. Later the abuse was turned in an indirect way on individual family members. This was done by blaming the chaos and disruption to rugby games in individual family members, their friends and associations. As the tour went on and the turmoil increased, the negative feelings intensified to such as degree that feelings of dislike, anger and incomprehension dominated our home. It's Just a Game (anon), in, The New Zealand Experience : 100 Vignettes, collected by B. Shaw & K. Broadley, 1985 .

From Digital NZ

Central library closure — collection availability.

Unfortunately much of our heritage collection is currently not available through our online catalogue — because of the closure of the Central Library, much of this collection is in storage. We hope to make it available again soon, but in the meantime, we suggest visiting the National Library of New Zealand in Thorndon (Corner Molesworth & Aitken St) to access these book titles and newspaper resources.

• Visiting the National Library
• Using the National Library Catalogue

Newspaper articles

Unfortunately, contemporary newspaper accounts of the Springbok Tour from 1981 fall into a time period where newspapers are generally not even indexed for searching, let alone available in full text online — see our finding historical Wellington newspaper articles resource.

That being said, information about (and sometimes the full text of) many anniversary accounts (10 years, 20 years later etc.), can be found online (see Online databases below) — and contemporary accounts can be accessed on microfilm if you know approximate dates (we've provided a table of key dates below).

Finding Historical Wellington Newspapers

Tip: Remember that many reports will not appear in newspapers until the following day.

Magazines — online databases

Our online databases can also be used to access a large number of articles about the tour which have previously been published in magazines . Though the databases do not go back as far as 1981, they do contain many retrospective articles written since then.

• Magazine databases
• New Zealand databases
• Newspaper databases

To access contemporary accounts of the Springbok Tour in magazines, we recommend visiting the National Library on Molesworth Street (see collection note above).

To find magazine titles of interest, have a read of the article below:

Story — Magazines and periodicals in New Zealand

Heritage Links (Local History)

New Zealanders protest against Springbok rugby tour, 1981

Time period, location description, methods in 1st segment, methods in 2nd segment, methods in 3rd segment, methods in 4th segment, methods in 5th segment, methods in 6th segment, additional methods (timing unknown), segment length, external allies, involvement of social elites, nonviolent responses of opponent, campaigner violence, repressive violence, classification, group characterization, groups in 1st segment, success in achieving specific demands/goals, total points, notes on outcomes, database narrative.

Halt All Racist Tours (HART) was organized in New Zealand in 1969 to protest rugby tours to and from South Africa. Their first protest, in 1970, was intended to prevent the All Blacks, New Zealand’s flagship rugby squad, from playing in South Africa, unless the Apartheid regime would accept a mixed-race team. South Africa relented, and an integrated All Black team toured the country.

Two years later, the Springboks arranged a tour of New Zealand. HART held intensive planning meetings, and, after laying out their nonviolent protest strategies to the New Zealand security director, he was forced to recommend to the government that the Springboks not be allowed in the country. Prime Minister Kirk, though he had promised not to interfere with the tour during his election campaign, canceled the Springbok’s visit, citing what he predicted would be the “greatest eruption of violence this country has ever known.”

HART remained active in the anti-apartheid community, continuing to protest the Springboks, and helping to organize a boycott of the 1976 Montreal Olympics. The International Olympic Committee had not banned New Zealand after the All Blacks had toured South Africa, and many African countries saw this failure as a tacit endorsement of Apartheid. In 1980, New Zealand again attempted to bring the Springboks to New Zealand.

The Springboks arrived on July 19, 1981. Though they were officially welcomed by the New Zealand government, there was a sense of dread and anticipation that surrounded their arrival – perhaps, some thought, the 1981 tour should have been cancelled like the tour in 1972 was. The government officials could not anticipate, however, that the country was about to fall into “near-civil war.” In response to HART, pro-rugby groups like Stop Politics in Rugby (SPIR) organized in an effort to help the Springbok’s tour succeed. Both sides tended to be easily identified by armbands that made their affiliation clear. In particular, HART activists wore their armbands for the entire length of the tour, subjecting themselves to constant ridicule and the threat of violence, despite their commitment to nonviolent protest only.

The Springboks played their first game on July 22 in Gisborne. An anti-Springbok rally took place that day, near the rugby pitch. When the campaigners arrived at the arena, they were confronted by pro-rugby demonstrators. Because Gisborne, like most cities in New Zealand, was close-knit, demonstrators on both sides knew each other, and were not afraid to call each other out for supporting the wrong side, whichever they believed that was. The pro-rugby demonstrators did not restrict themselves to words, even throwing stones at the other side. The anti-Springbok protesters could not stop the match that day. Though they were able to break through the perimeter fence, and engage the pro-tour demonstrators face to face, they were prevented from occupying the field. Though both sides reported that they were uneasy with the clashes between fellow New Zealanders, neither side was easily swayed.

Three days later, the Springboks were scheduled to play in Hamilton. Anti-Springbok planners had circulated a strategy that would hopefully allow them to tear down the fence, invade the field, and disrupt the match. Protesters had also secured more than 200 official tickets to the match, to make sure that their presence was felt, even in the event that they could not storm the pitch. Despite the presence of more than 500 police officers and a sizable pro-rugby contingent, the anti-Springbok march would prove unstoppable. 5000 anti-Springbok protesters descended upon the Hamilton pitch, and more than 300 made it onto the field, forcing a match cancellation. Protesters chanted that the whole world was watching. Many of the demonstrators were arrested, and those on the pitch endured a constant bombardment of bottles and other objects from rugby fans in the stands. This entire situation was captured on live TV and shown around the world.

With tensions in New Zealand reaching astronomical proportions, the Springboks were next scheduled to play four days later, on July 29. The anti-Springbok protesters were largely absent from the match, but had instead planned a march on the South African consulate in Wellington, New Zealand. Despite police declaring that a march was not permitted, the protesters marched right up to the police line on Molesworth Street. The police began to stop the marchers with their batons, violently forcing them away from the consulate building. The marchers, stunned and bloodied, turned towards the police station, chanting “Shame, shame, shame.” When they arrived, the accosted marchers pressed assault charges on the police that had attacked them. Though the charges were dismissed, the policing of the tour protests had taken a turn for the worse. From this point on, protesters were careful to carry shields and wear crash helmets in order to protect themselves from attacks.

Protests would continue for the entire length of the Springbok’s stay in New Zealand. Only one more match was cancelled, in Timaru. However, there were a few more notable encounters. In Christchurch, on August 15, protesters failed to occupy the pitch in time for the game to be cancelled. The police cordon around the arena held, and several observers believe that the police saved the lives of many protesters. The attacks of rugby supporters were growing more and more violent, The Christchurch incident was characterized by flying blocks of cement and full beer bottles. Had the anti-Bok protesters succeeded in reaching the field, the attacks would certainly have been even more dangerous.

The final match of the tour was in Auckland on September 12. Not only was the match important as a final chance for protesters to demonstrate their opposition to the Springboks, it was the deciding third meeting between the Springboks and the All Blacks. Doug Rollerson of the 1981 All Blacks recalled that it seemed very important for the All Blacks to win the match, to show that a mixed team was superior to the segregated Springbok side. When the All Blacks won, the sense of victory in New Zealand was similar to the US victory over the Soviet Union in 1980 – the triumph of righteousness over the evil empire. However, for most observers around the world, the off-field events were far more important. Though the protesters were generally non-violent, there were many others that joined in the marches – HART characterized them as opportunists that simply wanted to fight with police. Though eruptions of violence had taken place throughout the campaign, they were largely viewed by the protesters as third-party actions, and HART consistently distanced themselves from violent attacks. More memorably, Max Jones and Grant Cole commandeered a prop plane, and proceeded to drop flares and flour bombs on the pitch during play in an attempt to stop the game. Though the game continued, the actions of the protesters were again the primary news story in New Zealand and throughout the world.

Though the anti-Springbok protests were largely unsuccessful in that the vast majority of the planned contests took place, they were able to raise an incredible amount of awareness for the anti-Apartheid movement. Nelson Mandela recalled that when the game in Hamilton was cancelled, it was “as if the sun had come out.” HART would continue protesting until the fall of the Apartheid regime.

Influenced and influenced by anti-Springbok protests in other countries like Australia, Britain (see "Australians campaign against South African rugby tour in protest of apartheid, 1971" and "British Citizens Protest South African Sports Tours (Stop the Seventy Tour), 1969-1970") (1,2).

This campaign was also influenced by the New Zealand Waterfront Strike (1951) (1).

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From The Vaults

Owl Creek Polo Field in Glenville, New York State, can lay claim to being the most unlikely international rugby ground of the last 150 years. On Friday 25 September 1981 it was the venue for the inaugural test match between the USA Eagles and the South African Springboks. The Springboks had travelled to the States for three matches following their tumultuous 14-match tour of New Zealand which ended with a series defeat in the final minute of the epic third test at Eden Park, Auckland.

Such was the social and political uproar caused by the Springboks tour in New Zealand that the three-match American leg of the tour had to overcome massive hurdles before each of the matches took place. The test itself was played in such secrecy that the non-playing Springboks and the South African travelling press were not told the venue of the match until after it had taken place.

The first match of the American leg took place on Saturday 19 September against a Midwest XV in Racine, 10 miles south of Milwaukee. The match should have been played in Chicago, but the opposition in the city to the apartheid policies of the South African government was so widespread that a venue had to be found where any unrest could be controlled by the police. Roosevelt Field in Racine was located 100 miles from Chicago and contained a gridiron pitch which was hastily converted into a rugby ground for the match. The Springboks won convincingly 46-12 despite a brief disturbance created by demonstrators midway through the second half.

The second match against an Eastern XV on Tuesday 22 September ran into similar problems. Due to be played at the Bleecker Stadium in Albany, the Governor of New York objected and it required a decision by the Supreme Court in Washington to uphold the right of the Eastern Rugby Union to stage the match at the stadium and receive protection from the police. The crowd inside the ground of 300 was outnumbered by more than 1,000 demonstrators outside the ground, but the Springboks won the match convincingly by 41-0 in driving rain and then went straight to buses parked at the opposite end of the ground to the demonstrators to be driven away to change at their hotel.

USA (Twickenham, 1977)

One match remained on this benighted tour, the test match between the Eagles and the Springboks scheduled to be played on Saturday 26 September. There was considerable uncertainty due to the civil unrest as to whether the test would be able to go ahead and where it would be played. Such was the secrecy of the preparations for the test that the match was brought forward. The Springboks selected to play in the test left their hotel early on the Friday morning and played the test match that afternoon, a day early. Bryden and Colley give a vivid description of what happened:

"Journalists became suspicious when the team left their hotel early on Friday. By 4 pm in the afternoon news filtered through that that it was all over: the match had been played on a polo field in nearby Glenville and the Boks had won 38-7. Such was the suddenness of the decision that the Boks were told - Get dressed, you're going to play it right now."

The non-playing members of the Springbok touring party did not accompany the side to Glenville and the President of the USA Rugby Football Association, David Chambers from Texas, was not informed and was shocked to hear that he and other executive members had missed the test. The officially appointed referee, Ian Nixon, was due to arrive later that day as the match had been originally scheduled to be played on the Saturday, and so he had to be replaced by Don Morrison, a local referee. Don Morrison was rung at four o'clock on the Friday morning and asked to drive immediately to Albany from where he was escorted to the ground with Jim Townsend, the American touch judge, amid elaborate security precautions.

For a view of how the Eagles players saw the preparations for the match, their second row forward Bob Causey gave an interview to Tom Crosby on the 30th anniversary of the match in 2011:

"At 7 a.m. Friday he was awakened and told to get dressed in his game kit and don't call anyone. They sent the South African players extra US kits, so they wouldn't be noticed leaving the hotel. Everyone left in small groups. They drove out of the city until they reached what seemed to be a pasture. It was the Owl Creek Polo Ground. The match was called so quickly and secretively the president of the USA Rugby Union didn't know it was being held. Bob recalls a handful of the neighbours who came out and an occasional helicopter flying overhead. When the match ended and they arrived at the Saratoga Racetrack for the match reception, they found out the area had been surrounded by the State Police Swat Team. Later back at the hotel, the television news had live pictures of protestors being loaded onto buses to go to the match."

Forty years later, the history books record that the Springboks won convincingly 38-7 in front of a crowd of around 150 people and that their wingers, Ray Mordt and Gerrie Germishuys scored five tries between them. But it was an extraordinary day for all the players involved, and none more so than Thys Burger, the thrice capped Northern Transvaal and Springbok back row forward.

As the ground at Owl Creek was set out for a polo match, Burger had the task of helping the groundsmen erect the rugby posts and then officiating as one of the touch-judges. His work was still not complete because he was required to forego his touch judge duties and take the field as a substitute for Theuns Stofberg in the 25th minute of the second half. He celebrated the final match of his Springbok test career by scoring the eighth and final try in the Springboks' victory. In the 19th century you might have laid out the rugby pitch and then been one of the touch-judges, but I doubt you would have come onto the field in the 2nd half and scored a try!

• Apartheid, Bob "Big Red" Causey & the Springboks 1981 Tour ( [email protected] 1981)
• Barbed Wire Boks - Don Cameron (Rugby Press, Auckland 1981)
• Interview with the referee, Don Morrison (sareferees.co.za 2012)
• More than just rugby - Wynand Claassen & Dan Retief (Hans Strydom Publishers, Johannesburg 1985)
• Springboks under Siege - Colin Bryden and Mark Colley (NOW Publications, Hillbrow 1981)

About the Author - A professional musician and arts administrator, Richard Steele has had a life-long love of sport. He has been on the committee of the World Rugby Museum at Twickenham since 2005.

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Rugby Tour of Apartheid South Africa Dishonours Game – On This Day in 1974

I f today’s shrinking world could be said to have a motto it must surely be John Donne’s thoughtful reminder that “no man is an island”. In the midst of the monstrous crimes against flesh and blood committed in the name of abstractions and ideologies which have wracked us here in the past five years, it has not always been easy to tear away our thoughts from ourselves and give them to other people. But to lay claim to the name of Christian we have to remember that every man is our neighbour.

To the credit of the great majority, response to others’ needs has been consistent and generous. There are some circumstances, however, which lie outside the direct action of ordinary people, and yet we have to think about them and to feel involved if we are not to behave like the priest and the Levite who saw the injured man and passed by.

One of these is the matter of apartheid in South Africa. Apartheid in action is too well documented now by too many reputable witnesses to be doubted. The dispossession of land and the exiling of Africans to the aridity and desolation of the Bantustans; the brutality of the migratory labour system which separates families; the deliberate downgrading of education facilities; the hopeless malnutrition; the gruelling conditions of labour; the almost incredible gap in earnings between black and white; the unremitting watchfulness of a ruthless police and brutalised prison force; all these and many other factors which make life intolerable for Africans and ever richer for the white population burden all our consciences.

They come inevitably to mind when a rugby tour is planned which will take Irish as well as British players to play against segregated teams before segregated spectators, and to play five international matches against all-white teams. It is idle to say that politics should not intrude into sport when it so obviously does in South Africa. It is idle too to pretend that the Lions’ tour does not at least imply that the system which selects opponents on a colour basis is an acceptable one and thereby to give heart and encouragement to those who have devised and operate this system.

We in Ireland know a good deal about oppression. In voicing official disapproval of the tour the Irish Government is speaking for most of us. By pushing ahead in spite of this, the tour management and players are dishonouring a fine game and ignoring the deeply felt revulsions of most of the people of these islands.