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The 1981 South African rugby tour (known in New Zealand as the 1981 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 national 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 Football Union (NZRFU) 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.

Background

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 went ahead, and in 1969, Halt All Racist Tours (HART) was formed.

During the 1970s, public protests and political pressure forced on the 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 in 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.

The All Blacks toured South Africa in 1976 with the blessing of the newly elected New Zealand prime minister, Robert Muldoon. In response, 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 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. 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.

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

By the early 1980s, the pressure from other countries and from protest groups in New Zealand such as HART reached a head when the NZRFU 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, the Springboks' flights to and from New Zealand went via Los Angeles and Hawaii.

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 agreement remained vague enough to avoid the New Zealand government from having to use coercive powers such as withdrawing visas and passports." This means Muldoon's government technically was not bound to the agreement to the extent it outwardly appeared to the public. In addition to this, Ben Couch, who was the minister for Māori 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."

Muldoon made some effort to discourage the tour and stated that he could see "nothing but trouble coming from this." "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, " may affect the harmonious development of the Commonwealth and international sport".

Some rugby supporters echoed the separation of politics and sport, 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 National won. 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 NZRFU, nor the Springboks, but the anti-tour protesters themselves. 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 has ever witnessed."

The ensuing public protests polarised New Zealand: 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.

Initially 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."

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. On 22 July, 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.

Hamilton: Game cancelled

This article is part of a series aboutRobert Muldoon
Early life MP for Tamaki Electoral history Leader of the National Party 1974 leadership election 1984 leadership election Leader of the Opposition Shadow Cabinet I II Dancing Cossacks advertisement Prime Minister of New Zealand Third National Government Dawn raids Fitzgerald v Muldoon Moyle Affair Bastion Point Occupation Carless days 1981 Springbok Tour Think Big Closer Economic Relations 1984 New Zealand constitutional crisis General elections 1975 1978 1981 1984
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At Rugby Park, Hamilton (the site of today's Waikato Stadium), on 25 July, 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. Following reports that a stolen light plane (piloted by Pat McQuarrie) was approaching the stadium, police cancelled the match.

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. 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", recollects one protester.

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. 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." 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.

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

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. 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.

Christchurch

At Lancaster Park, Christchurch, on 15 August, 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. 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 by dropping flour-bombs on the pitch, despite which the game continued. "Patches" of criminal gangs, such as traditional rivals Black Power and the Mongrel Mob, were also evident. (Black Power were Muldoon supporters.) A group of peaceful protestors dressed as clowns were beaten with batons by police. The same day in Warkworth, Dunedin and Timaru protesters stormed the local TV transmitters and shut off coverage of the game.

The protest movement

Some of the protests 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. 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 Māori supported the tour and attended games. John Minto, the national organizer for HART, thought that the tour "stimulate the whole debate about racism and the place of Māori in our community." 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." Some of those protesting racism in South Africa felt inclined to reflect on the racial divide in their own country, before condemning another – part-Māori 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."

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.

Midwest

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.

Glenville

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

Aftermath

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

The NZRFU 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 NZRFU 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.

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.

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.

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! (1983) tells the tale of the tour from a Māori perspective. Patu! was added to New Zealand's national UNESCO Memory of the World Register in 2012.
• 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.
• Ross Meurant, commander of the police "Red Squad", published Red Squad Story in 1982, giving a conservative view. ISBN 978-0-908630-06-6
• 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.
• Te Papa has objects related to the tour including images, helmets and an entrance ticket. The exhibition Slice of Heaven: 20th Century Aotearoa has a section about the tour.
• Rage, a dramatisation of the tour by Tom Scott, was filmed in mid-2011 and was broadcast on TV One on 4 September 2011.
• 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.

See also

• 1971 South Africa rugby union tour of Australia
• History of South Africa in the apartheid era
• Ces Blazey
• Politics and sports
• Sporting boycott of South Africa

Notes and references

1. ^ 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.
2. ^ 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.
3. "All Blacks versus Springboks". nzhistory.net.nz. 12 June 2014. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
4. ^ Watters, Steve. "A long tradition of rugby rivalry". nzhistory.net.nz. Retrieved 17 January 2007.
5. ^ Watters, Steve. "'Politics and sport don't mix'". nzhistory.net.nz. Retrieved 17 January 2007.
6. ^ Watters, Steve. "Stopping the 1973 tour". nzhistory.net.nz. Retrieved 17 January 2007.
7. "Say it in acid". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
8. "Message with a difference". The Press. 29 March 1976.
9. "WELCOME TO RACIST GAME". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
10. Fortuin, Gregory (20 July 2006). "It's time to close the final chapter". The New Zealand Herald.
11. "On This Day 17 July 1976". BBC. 17 July 1976. Retrieved 17 January 2007.
12. "Rally in Cathedral square". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
13. "1500 in City Protest". Christchurch Star. 29 May 1976. p. 15.
14. "Saboteurs try to cut rugby TV coverage". The Press. 26 July 1976. p. 1.
15. Watters, Steve. "From Montreal to Gleneagles". nzhistory.net.nz. Retrieved 17 January 2007.
16. "When talk of racism is just not cricket". The Sydney Morning Herald. 16 December 2005. Retrieved 19 August 2007.
17. Chapple 1984, p. 60.
18. ^ "The whole world's watching" (PDF). eprints.lse.ac.uk. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
19. "Looking Back – Episode 11 – Parliament On Demand". ondemand.parliament.nz. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
20. "Gleneagles Agreement". nzhistory.govt.nz. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
21. "Politics and sport – 1981 Springbok tour". New Zealand history online. Nzhistory.net.nz. 24 February 2009. Retrieved 1 October 2009.
22. ^ "Battle lines are drawn – 1981 Springbok tour | NZHistory.net.nz, New Zealand history online". Nzhistory.net.nz. 24 February 2009. Retrieved 1 October 2009.
23. ^ "Impact – 1981 Springbok tour |". Nzhistory.net.nz. Retrieved 1 October 2009.
24. "Who Takes the Blame — A Society Divided Over the Springbok Tour | NZETC". nzetc.victoria.ac.nz.
25. Newnham 1981, p. 39.
26. Ardern, Crystal (22 July 2006). "Springbok Tour 1981". Waikato Times. Archived from the original on 15 October 2008.
27. "Protest! The Voice of Dissent at the Nelson Provincial Museum" (PDF). Evidence. New Zealand Police Museum. April 2007. p. 2.
28. "Springbok Tour Special | CLOSE UP News". TVNZ. 4 July 2006. Retrieved 1 October 2009.
29. ^ "Narrating the Springbok Tour" (PDF). otago.ac.nz. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
30. ^ "Film: Gisborne game, 1981 Springbok tour | NZHistory, New Zealand history online". nzhistory.govt.nz. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
31. ^ "Tour diary – 1981 Springbok tour". New Zealand history online. Nzhistory.net.nz. Retrieved 1 October 2009.
32. ^ "Film: game cancelled in Hamilton, 1981 Springbok tour". NZHistory. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. 24 July 2017. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
33. Chapple 1984, pp. 77–78, 91, 99–102.
34. 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.
35. ^ 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.
36. "Film: clash on Molesworth St – 1981 Springbok tour | NZHistory.net.nz, New Zealand history online". Nzhistory.net.nz. Retrieved 1 October 2009.
37. Eddie Gay (24 May 2008). "Minto's battered helmet to go on display at Te Papa". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 1 October 2009.
38. "Lecturer admits 1981 tour sabotage", The Press, 14 July 2001.
39. Gay, Edward (7 August 2008). "Eden Park revamp uncovers secret escape route". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 25 November 2014.
40. "The first test: Lancaster Park, Christchurch, 15 August 1981". New Zealand History. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. 9 February 2015. Retrieved 3 August 2016.
41. "Film: the third test – 1981 Springbok tour". NZHistory. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
42. Hazlehurst, Kayleen M.; Hazlehurst, Cameron, eds. (2008). Gangs and youth subcultures. Transaction. ISBN 9781412824323.
43. Bingham, Eugene (11 August 2001). "The code of silence over a tour's infamous bashing". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 1 October 2009.
44. Gorman, Paul (28 May 2018). "Recalling the day rugby coverage was cut". Otago Daily Times.
45. Chapple 1984, pp. 288–291.
46. "John Minto – 1981 Springbok tour | NZHistory, New Zealand history online". nzhistory.govt.nz. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
47. "Man rugby fans hated", Sunday Star Times, 13 March 1994.
48. 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.
49. ^ 1981: Secret site curbs rugby protest. The Journal Times. 8 September 2013.
50. ^ Protesters in Albany shout as Springboks triumph in rainfall. The New York Times. 23 September 1981.
51. ^ A Test of the Times. Houston Press. 13 December 2001.
52. "Tour diary". nzhistory.govt.nz.
53. 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.
54. Tahana, Yvonne (21 January 2012). "Judge's ruling halted divisive All Black tour". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 31 December 2014.
55. McMurran, Alister (18 November 2005). "'87 Cup healed '81 tour's wounds". Otago Daily Times.
56. "NZ Feature Project: Patu!". New Zealand Film Archive. 4 August 2006. Archived from the original on 22 May 2010. Retrieved 1 October 2009.
57. "PATU!". UNESCO Memory of the World. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
58. "The Film Archive – Ready to Roll? | Blam Blam Blam – There is no Depression". Archived from the original on 21 September 2011.
59. "1981: Hitting the Road". New Zealand Film Archive. Archived from the original on 9 August 2009. Retrieved 1 October 2009.
60. "Helmet". Collections Online. Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Retrieved 20 November 2010.
61. "Helmet". Collections Online. Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Retrieved 20 November 2010.
62. "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.
63. "1981 Springbok tour". Slice of Heaven – Diversity & civil rights. Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Retrieved 20 November 2010.
64. "NZ On Air | News | Press Releases". Archived from the original on 19 February 2014.
65. Rothwell, Kimberley (19 May 2011). "Springbok tour upheaval re-enacted with Rage". Stuff: Entertainment. Retrieved 14 September 2011.
66. "Sunday Theatre | Television New Zealand | Entertainment | TV One, TV2". Archived from the original on 25 November 2014.

Bibliography

• 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.

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

v t e Rugby union tours of New Zealand
British & Irish Lions	1888 (no test) 1904 1908 1930 1950 1959 1966 1971 1977 1983 1993 2005 2017
Australia	1905 1913 1931 1936 1946 1949 1952 1955 1958 1962 1964 1972 1978 1982 1986 1990 1991
New South Wales	1882 1894 1921 1923 1925 1928
South Africa	1921 1937 1956 1965 1981 1994
Argentina	1979 1989 1997 2001 2004
England	1963 1973 1985 1998 2003 2004 2008 2010 2014 2024
France	1961 1968 1979 1984 1986 1989 1994 1999 2001 2003 2007 2013 2018
Ireland	1976 1992 1997 2002 2006 2008 2010 2012 2022
Italy	1980 (no test) 2002 2003 (no test)
Scotland	1975 1981 1990 1996 2000 2004
Wales	1969 1988 2003 2010 2016
Romania	1991 (no test)
Japan	1974
Fiji	1974 1980 1989 (no test) 1996 1997 2003
Western Samoa	1996 2005 (no test)
Pacific Islanders	2004
Canada	1995 2007

• 1981 rugby union tours
• 1981 in New Zealand rugby union
• 1981 in American rugby union
• South Africa national rugby union team tours of New Zealand
• Rugby union tours of the United States
• Race relations in New Zealand
• Protests in New Zealand
• Protests in the United States
• Māori politics
• Māori sport
• 1981 riots
• Sports riots
• 1981 in politics
• International opposition to apartheid in South Africa
• 1981 in international relations
• Rugby union controversies
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• 1981 in New Zealand
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• Police misconduct in Oceania
• Law enforcement in New Zealand