Opinion around New Zealand on the 1981 Springbok tour. The final match of the 1981 Springbok tour. On September 12th 1980, the Chairman of the New Zealand Rugby Football Union (N.Z.R.F.U) Ron Don, formally invited the South African rugby team to come tour … New Zealand and South Africa were rivals within rugby and frequently played each other. The most staunch rugby supporters no doubt came from the more rural areas of New Zealand, with that being the group … Tell me more... Can you find out where the different university student associations stood? Though I didn’t think much of the femme fatale storyline – it centred on a Māori police graduate who infiltrated an anti-tour protest group, hopped into … A protester places an olive branch on a long baton during protests against the 1981 Springbok tour. Opinion on social and political issues often differed sharply between the cities and the rest of New Zealand. Today marks the 30th anniversary of the first match of the 1981 Springbok tour to New Zealand - a tour that in less than two months … The 1981 Springbok Tour was a momentous time in New Zealand’s history and has been the subject of much debate since. 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Some also saw the tour as an opportunity to address racism in New … They proposed a neutral position of neither opposing nor supporting. 26 affiliated unions and almost all of clubs in the country supported their decision in arranging the Springbok tour… the pro-tour movement As is the case with any protest movement, there were groups and individuals of the time who expressed opinions contrary to that of the groups protesting for change. It caused controversy amongst New Zealand society and it was the largest civil dispute seen since the 1951 Waterfront Strike. Protest … Images and media Try these sites for information about the background of this particular tour and why it was controversial. intense 1981 tour still divides opinion Drama was in abundance for the 49,000 who crammed into Eden Park for the deciding test of the 1981 test series against the Springboks. Meet the NZHistory.net.nz team. For two months during the Springbok tour of 1981, Kiwis took their corners in the battle over apartheid in a groundswell of public emotion that helped redefine a nation. I believe that Lincoln and Waikato were supporting the Tour, and possibly Massey. I don't regret anything that was said or done in 1981. Spencer at St Paul’s Cathedral on July 29, 1981. 1981 Springbok tour Page 6 – Battle lines are drawn. The central argument of the pro-tour movement was that politics and sports should be kept separate but this was proved to be inaccurate. This is not to For 56 days in July, August and September 1981, New Zealanders were divided against each other in the largest civil disturbance seen since the 1951 waterfront dispute. The first tour match, in Gisborne, remote from the main centres where protests were likely to be … If one more had changed then NZUSA could not have maintained its opposition. This data is from a poll carried out by the New Zealand Herald between 25 and 30 July 1981. 1981 Springbok Tour: Home; Causes of the event Key individuals and groups. No one knew just how the protests would play out. How was the springbok tour important to the people at the time? These groups supported the tour, and thus believed that the tour was a good thing for New Zealand. The question asked was 'Should a Springbok rugby team have come to New Zealand?'. As Springbok Captain Wynand Classen recalls. Anti-tour movement pro-tour … 1981 Springbok Tour Protests, New Zealand. 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. The pro-tour movement wasn't an organised group of individuals looking to publicize their views, they just retalliated to the anti-tour protesters disrupting the tour often violently. He believes the protests would not have happened if there hadn't been such strong feelings about the Springboks being in New Zealand. However as opposition to apartheid grew in the decades prior to the 1981 Springbok tour, conflict began surround the apartheid policy in … The joke among the left was that in their case Civil Rights should be spelt as one word. Hundreds were killed as the authorities ruthlessly suppressed protests. Opinion polls indicated that a majority of those questioned in the four main centres (and in some other cities, such as Palmerston North and Nelson) opposed the tour. Violent encounters between anti-tour protesters and pro-tour supporters and police occurred all over the country. In stark contrast, public opinion strongly favoured the tour in provincial centres such as Hamilton, Tauranga, New Plymouth, Whanganui, Timaru and Invercargill. It brought NZ attention and shame due to police brutality and our sporting contact with South Africa published in newspapers throughout the whole world. I was at Otago University at the time and a number of Tour supporters (including Mike Laws) had a group call SCRUM (Students Civil Rights University Movement) who wanted to end OUSA (Otago University Student's Association's opposition to the Tour. The first test match of the 1981 Springbok Rugby Tour of New Zealand (Tour) was to be played at Lancaster Park. Commercial re-use may be allowed on request. The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly. Protests against the South African rugby team touring New Zealand divided the country in 1981. More than 150,000 people took part in over 200 demonstrations in 28 centres, and 1500 were … The map is based on an original that appeared in Malcolm McKinnon (ed. Variety of people showed up in protest of the New Zealand on the 1981 Springbok tour a! 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