The Anti-tour movement:
The move to stop the Springbok Tour of New Zealand in 1981 commenced well before the Springboks were welcomed into New Zealand officially on July 19 1981. Even though the viewpoints of most of New Zealand people were ignored by the NZRFU and Muldoon's government, who continued upholding the policy of "no politics in sport", action was undertaken by anti-tour protesters in Auckland, Hamilton, Gisborne, Wellington and Christchurch, not to mention also in the battle of Molesworth Street which resulted in extensive violence that polarised New Zealand. Violent encounters between anti-tour protesters and pro-tour supporters and police occurred all over the country. The protests that occurred included a variety of strategies involving regular demonstrations and marches to venues where games were being held, and pitch invasions which left a huge impact on our society. New Zealand went through social change during this time of conflict, and it was something that New Zealand had never experienced before as people were rising to attempt to take control of a country's international race relations through public dispute.
The first encounter of the 1981 Tour happened in Gisborne, although not many people believed that it would be the beginning of numerous encounters that would overshadow the whole country. The Springboks first game on New Zealand soil was scheduled to be played against Poverty Bay (Gisborne local team) on the 22nd of July. However, the main picture was not the actual game, but the first encounter between the anti-tour protesters and the tour supporters. A large variety of people were to make up the groups of tour protesters, originating from a range of backgrounds including Maori, pacifists, wealthy, poor, and the working class, and were supported by many unionists and trade unions. The impact of the trade unions involved brought some experience to the movement because many of the trade unions had been involved in the Waterfront Strikes and Mining Strikes in 1912, 1913 and 1951. About 300 protesters gathered at the Gisborne Trade Union Headquarters on the day of the first match, from which they made their way to a golf course that was right next to the venue of the game, and continued on to pull down the fences and barriers that had been put up so that they could get direct access to the grounds. The social split that had come about in New Zealand was apparent when the tour supporters violently tried to fend off the protesters, with police stepping in with batons to push the protesters back. As Springbok Captain Wynand Classen recalls,
"When we arrived in Gisborne and we saw the protesters and when they dropped glass and other things on the playing field, we realised it was going to be quite tough... We were totally unprepared and I don't think even the New Zealanders knew it would be that intense."
3 days after the Gisborne encounter, Rugby Park in Hamilton became the main focus for the Springboks Waikato match. The Waikato Rugby Union, which had pointed out that the disrupting of matches was the backbone of the anti-tour movement, decided to take extra precautions for blockading the ground. A total of 535 police were present in the city in order to make things difficult for the protesters. However, emotion and determination became the overriding factor as protesters put together a simple plan that ended in success. The protest planners had purchased over 200 tickets for the game in order to make the protesters presence felt from within the ground itself. All sorts of people joined the gathering at Garden Place, with increased numbers turning up due to it being a weekend match. A march on Rugby Park ensued, with around 350 protesters managing to tear down fences and enter the ground just before the scheduled kick off time.
Roughly 50 protesters were arrested in an hour by police, but enough damage had already been done causing the match to be cancelled. This was also in part due to rumours that Pat McQuarrie had stolen a light aircraft and was heading for the stadium. Spectators reacted to the game being called off violently, kicking, punching and throwing bottles at protesters. This act of invading the ground had great social and political impacts as the images were captured on live television and shown all around the world.
On July 29 the Springboks played against Taranaki in New Plymouth, but large protests were occurring on Molesworth Street in Wellington. A protest march had been planned to march up Molesworth Street to the South Africa Consul's home. Just less than 2000 protesters gathered outside Parliament, but the police blocked their way on the march and did not let them continue on. This is where the police first showed their true brutality, which polarised themselves and the government and indeed the whole country to those who were watching both in New Zealand and overseas. Police responded with violence to protesters using their short batons to injure many men and women, however some historians say that it was simply an act of the police reinforcing their authority after the Hamilton disaster. This encounter changed the way police dealt with protesters, afterwards opting to use long batons in order to push the protesters back. Anger directed at the tour by protesters now rested firmly on the New Zealand police which increased the lack of obedience to the law and violence in the protests that were still to come.
The first encounter of the 1981 Tour happened in Gisborne, although not many people believed that it would be the beginning of numerous encounters that would overshadow the whole country. The Springboks first game on New Zealand soil was scheduled to be played against Poverty Bay (Gisborne local team) on the 22nd of July. However, the main picture was not the actual game, but the first encounter between the anti-tour protesters and the tour supporters. A large variety of people were to make up the groups of tour protesters, originating from a range of backgrounds including Maori, pacifists, wealthy, poor, and the working class, and were supported by many unionists and trade unions. The impact of the trade unions involved brought some experience to the movement because many of the trade unions had been involved in the Waterfront Strikes and Mining Strikes in 1912, 1913 and 1951. About 300 protesters gathered at the Gisborne Trade Union Headquarters on the day of the first match, from which they made their way to a golf course that was right next to the venue of the game, and continued on to pull down the fences and barriers that had been put up so that they could get direct access to the grounds. The social split that had come about in New Zealand was apparent when the tour supporters violently tried to fend off the protesters, with police stepping in with batons to push the protesters back. As Springbok Captain Wynand Classen recalls,
"When we arrived in Gisborne and we saw the protesters and when they dropped glass and other things on the playing field, we realised it was going to be quite tough... We were totally unprepared and I don't think even the New Zealanders knew it would be that intense."
3 days after the Gisborne encounter, Rugby Park in Hamilton became the main focus for the Springboks Waikato match. The Waikato Rugby Union, which had pointed out that the disrupting of matches was the backbone of the anti-tour movement, decided to take extra precautions for blockading the ground. A total of 535 police were present in the city in order to make things difficult for the protesters. However, emotion and determination became the overriding factor as protesters put together a simple plan that ended in success. The protest planners had purchased over 200 tickets for the game in order to make the protesters presence felt from within the ground itself. All sorts of people joined the gathering at Garden Place, with increased numbers turning up due to it being a weekend match. A march on Rugby Park ensued, with around 350 protesters managing to tear down fences and enter the ground just before the scheduled kick off time.
Roughly 50 protesters were arrested in an hour by police, but enough damage had already been done causing the match to be cancelled. This was also in part due to rumours that Pat McQuarrie had stolen a light aircraft and was heading for the stadium. Spectators reacted to the game being called off violently, kicking, punching and throwing bottles at protesters. This act of invading the ground had great social and political impacts as the images were captured on live television and shown all around the world.
On July 29 the Springboks played against Taranaki in New Plymouth, but large protests were occurring on Molesworth Street in Wellington. A protest march had been planned to march up Molesworth Street to the South Africa Consul's home. Just less than 2000 protesters gathered outside Parliament, but the police blocked their way on the march and did not let them continue on. This is where the police first showed their true brutality, which polarised themselves and the government and indeed the whole country to those who were watching both in New Zealand and overseas. Police responded with violence to protesters using their short batons to injure many men and women, however some historians say that it was simply an act of the police reinforcing their authority after the Hamilton disaster. This encounter changed the way police dealt with protesters, afterwards opting to use long batons in order to push the protesters back. Anger directed at the tour by protesters now rested firmly on the New Zealand police which increased the lack of obedience to the law and violence in the protests that were still to come.
The Pro-tour movement:
Just as it would be with any dispute, there are always two sides to every story. The 1981 Springbok tour was no different, and generated much support from people right across the country who believed that politics should not and were not involved in sport at the time of the tour. The most staunch rugby supporters no doubt came from the more rural areas of New Zealand, with that being the group that Muldoon was targeting when he signed off on the tour. This group of tour supporters was key for Muldoon to remain in government with an election that year.
The pro-tour supporters did not necessarily support apartheid, but did not believe that any issue in another country had it's place in New Zealand and particularly rugby. While in hindsight it seems like a ruthless and selfish decision to support the tour, to the people at the time, international issues such as apartheid in South Africa had not been on their radar. The effect they could have on another country was unknown, for many they were just remaining faithful in what they had always known-and that was supporting the government and New Zealand's national sport of rugby.
The pro-tour movement was not organised like the anti-tour movement, but tended to act in reaction to the anti-tour protests. For example, when the protesters breached the fences to the rugby ground in Gisborne, spectators and pro-tour supporters retaliated by kicking, punching and throwing projectiles at the encroaching protesters. These supporters were in fact the source of much of the violence, contributing to the escalation undertaken by police and then the anti-tour movement.
Some groups were formed in opposition to the tour protests, such as The Society For The Protection Of Individual Rights (SPIR) and War Against Recreational Disruption (WARD). These groups supported the tour, but not necessarily apartheid.
Despite supporting the tour, the tour supporters actually helped the anti-tour movement in publicising the protest. The opposition that the tour supporters provided is what made the protests such a violent and polarising event. The publicity gained had national and international consequences.
Although at the time, much of the support was in favour of the tour, this soon changed which was reflected in the 1984 general election. The change in government reflected a closing of this social divide, as some previous tour supporters obviously changed their mindset which allowed the Labour Party to capitalise and win the election.
The pro-tour supporters did not necessarily support apartheid, but did not believe that any issue in another country had it's place in New Zealand and particularly rugby. While in hindsight it seems like a ruthless and selfish decision to support the tour, to the people at the time, international issues such as apartheid in South Africa had not been on their radar. The effect they could have on another country was unknown, for many they were just remaining faithful in what they had always known-and that was supporting the government and New Zealand's national sport of rugby.
The pro-tour movement was not organised like the anti-tour movement, but tended to act in reaction to the anti-tour protests. For example, when the protesters breached the fences to the rugby ground in Gisborne, spectators and pro-tour supporters retaliated by kicking, punching and throwing projectiles at the encroaching protesters. These supporters were in fact the source of much of the violence, contributing to the escalation undertaken by police and then the anti-tour movement.
Some groups were formed in opposition to the tour protests, such as The Society For The Protection Of Individual Rights (SPIR) and War Against Recreational Disruption (WARD). These groups supported the tour, but not necessarily apartheid.
Despite supporting the tour, the tour supporters actually helped the anti-tour movement in publicising the protest. The opposition that the tour supporters provided is what made the protests such a violent and polarising event. The publicity gained had national and international consequences.
Although at the time, much of the support was in favour of the tour, this soon changed which was reflected in the 1984 general election. The change in government reflected a closing of this social divide, as some previous tour supporters obviously changed their mindset which allowed the Labour Party to capitalise and win the election.