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Springbok Tour 1981

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

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Okay, step forward any lyin' commy…,

Okay, step forward any lyin' commy…,

The cartoon shows a photo of the face of minister of police Ben Couch. The cartoonist has drawn around the face to make it seem as though he is a policeman in riot gear, In the background is a phot...

Try revolution

Some argue that if the 1981 Springbok rugby tour of New Zealand had been halted from the outset, the impact on the hearts and minds of South Africans would not have been as profound. This Leanne Po...

The 1981 Springbok rugby tour

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 cause of this was the vis...

Government and sport

The government has always involved itself in sport – to boost national morale and promote health. It has made laws about physical education in schools, funded elite teams and taken stands on intern...

Red Squad is yellow!

Red Squad is yellow!

Poster showing the Red Squad running away.

Red Squad and anti- tour demonstrators

Red Squad and anti- tour demonstrators

Scuffle between a policeman of the Red Squad and helmeted anti Springbok rugby tour demonstrators in Wellington, 28 August 1981. Original caption reads: "A member of the 50-strong Red Squad in acti...

Springbok Tour protest programme

Springbok Tour protest programme

This programme provided a schedule of protest activities for July 1981

Protest badges - 1981

Protest badges - 1981

Two 1981 Anti-Springbok tour badges.

School children protesting

School children protesting

The central theme of opposition to sporting contact with South Africa was opposition to apartheid. This protest took many forms and involved many parts of New Zealand society from church groups to ...

Anti-Springbok tour demonstration

Anti-Springbok tour demonstration

A child holding an anti-Springbok Tour placard.

Tour diary - 1981 Springbok tour

Select itinerary of the 1981 tour by the Springbok rugby team.

Blazey discussing the 1981 Springbok tour

Hear Ces Blazey in a radio news interview with John Blumsky recorded on 15 September 1981. He reflects on the protests that accompanied the recent Springbok rugby tour of New Zealand, and on the pr...

Anti-tour protest reflects on thirty years since first game

Anti-tour protest reflects on thirty years since first game

It's thirty years today since the first game in the 1981 Springbok rugby tour of New Zealand.

The Photographer John Miller, the Protestor, Gerard Dobson

The Photographer John Miller, the Protestor, Gerard Dobson

John Miller has documented Māori protest since the 1970's. As he sits with Maraea Rakuraku scrolling through images on his computer screen he relives the protest action outside Athletic Park, Well...

T-shirt, 'No Tour'

T-shirt, 'No Tour'

This T-shirt was made by HART (Halt All Racist Tours) for protestors to wear during the Springbok Rugby Tour of 1981. The list of organisations and people who were anti-tour indicates the diversity...

1956 rugby ball and John Minto helmet

Simon Morton looks at the connection between two items from the Te Papa collection: the rugby ball used in the deciding test of the 1956 Springbok tour and 1981 protester John Minto's helmet.

Barbed wire

Barbed wire barrier protecting a rugby ground from anti Springbok tour protestors. Photographed on the 19th of August 1981 by an Evening Post staff photographer Protests were against the 1981 Spr...

Rage

TV movie Rage recreates the 1981 Springbok tour, which saw violent clashes between protestors and police. Ryan O'Kane (Second Hand Wedding) plays the protestor whose girlfriend (Maria Walker) is ac...

Patu!, 1983

This is a poster for Merata Mita's powerful feature-length documentary Patu!, which follows the growing public protests against the 1981 Springbok rugby tour of New Zealand. When Television New Zea...

New Zealand 1981 South Africa 2013

New Zealand 1981 South Africa 2013

Two panels. Against a montage of scenes from the anti-tour protests of 1981, the prime minister, John Key, reads a book titled 'How to make lots of money' and thinking 'Cool! I've got to remember T...

Woman reacting to police violence

Woman reacting to police violence

Woman protestor angered by police batoning demonstrators, Rintoul Street, Newtown, Wellington. Photographed by Evening post staff photographer Peter Avery 31 August 1981. No negative held at EP/1...

Petition Cards to Robert Muldoon

Petition Cards to Robert Muldoon

On this day in 1981, protestors against racism and apartheid in South Africa stormed the Hamilton Rugby Grounds, forcing the abandonment of the Springbok-Waikato match. The action formed part of a ...

The Year 1981

This week we revisit what was a big year in anyone's language: 1981. New Zealand endured a hugely divisive winter, as protest and confrontation swept through the country, over the government's deci...

Release Mandela!

Release Mandela!

Auckland potter Peter Lange bought 300 cheap plain mugs, got the ceramic transfers printed, and fired the image on to the mugs. The image was given to Lange probably by a member of HART (Halt All R...

the continuing saga of "The Tour"

the continuing saga of "The Tour"

Shows in four cameos a range of characters in the rugby tour saga. The first is the 'pigheaded rugby union', then the 'self-righteous protesters', then the 'two-faced politicians' (Muldoon) and las...

Apartheid. Stop the tour

Apartheid. Stop the tour

Shows Muldoon, a rugby player, a protestor and a police officer skewered on a large arrow (Apartheid). They are all calling out and the demonstrator is holding a sign which says "Stop the Tour". Re...

Halt All Racist Tours badge

Halt All Racist Tours badge

This badge was worn by protesters against contacts between South African and New Zealand sporting teams in the 1970s. It was either worn during the lead up to the proposed South African rugby tour ...

Women against the 1981 tour

Women against the 1981 tour

Women's groups were prominent in the widespread protests against the 1981 Springbok tour of New Zealand. This poster, produced by Women Against the Tour, announces a march from Christchurch's Meriv...

Don't mention the tour

Don't mention the tour

The presence of the South African Springbok rugby team in New Zealand in the winter of 1981 sparked a fierce national debate and protest within New Zealand. This cartoon suggests the strength of th...

Inside the 1981 Springbok tour

Thirty years after the 1981 Springbok rugby tour, Police have given the Listener access to previously classified documents.

Protests during the Springboks tour

In 1981, everyone knew what side they were on.

The 1981 anti-tour protests and their lessons for today

Presents a Marxist look at the anti-Springbok tour and its subsequent impact on New Zealand society.

Days of shame or days of rage

A personal memoir of the ’81 tour.

The 1981 Springbok tour

Presents comprehensive radio coverage of, and reflection on the 1981 Springbok tour.

The 1981 Springbok tour of New Zealand

The 1981 Springbok Tour became one of the most divisive events in New Zealand history.

1981 Springbok Tour protest images

Photos of the 1981 Springbok tour protests from the Herald archives.

1981 Springbok tour: poster collection

Christchurch City Libraries presents a selection of 1981 Springbok Anti-Tour posters.

The 1981 Springbok tour which saw riots in the streets also only threw up a few songs of significance.

The Great Divide

Gwyneth Hyndman spoke to people who witnessed the impact 30 years ago, when the Springboks played Southland at Invercargill's Rugby Park.

The rugby tour that split us into two nations

We hear from two pivotal figures from opposite sides of the 1981 conflict.

PR 24 baton

The Monadnock PR 24 baton was introduced by the New Zealand Police in the early 1980s for riot control. It replaced the previous shorter baton. Operation Rugby The code-name for the police action ...

Rugby and apartheid

Rugby and apartheid

Shows the rugby boots of the New Zealand All Blacks, labelled NZRU, trampling over black South Africans in a scrum. Refers to the refusal of the New Zealand Rugby Union to bow to public pressure in...

1981 Anti-Springbok tour demonstration

1981 Anti-Springbok tour demonstration

If this photograph had been taken later in the tour, police would have been wearing riot gear, demonstrators would have had helmets and padding, and everyone would have been expecting violence. Rug...

The Springbok Tour of 1981 – 25 Years On

Presents a South African perspective on the 1981 Springbok Tour.

“He aint dead Sir”

“He aint dead Sir”

This visceral cartoon was drawn over 35 years ago, but you can still strongly sense Tom Scott’s outrage over apartheid and the news that prominent anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko had died (he wa...

Anti-tour clash

Anti-tour clash

This dramatic photograph shows Kiwis fighting each other in the streets of Auckland, but why? It's 1981, the Springbok tour has begun and the two opposing protest factions - those passionate about ...

Hamilton During the 1981 Springbok Tour

After effortlessly ripping down the fence protesters stormed Hamilton’s Rugby Park.

1981 Springbok tour

1981 Springbok tour

Many Answers has information about the 1981 Springbok tour.

1981 Springbok Tour

1981 Springbok Tour

Find more information on this topic on EPIC. Databases recommended: New Zealand Geographic, Australia New Zealand Reference Centre Plus. School login maybe required.

NZSIS reports on 1981 Springbok rugby tour protests

The NZSIS has decided it is appropriate to release some of its historical information surrounding the Springbok tour.

Red Squad revisited

Reflections of Ross Meurant, the Red Squad second in command.

1981 Springbok Tour perspectives

Presents a number of pro and anti-Springbok tour perspectives from those who took part.

The 1981 Springbok Tour and explosive revelations

According to official documents, the Australian Government considered barring New Zealand from the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane.

The collision of sport and politics between 1975 to 1985. Find this article on New Zealand Geographic, available through EPIC. School login maybe required.

Research papers

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

This research paper examines the making and implementation of policy toward apartheid South Africa by New Zealand governments, from 1981 to 1994.

Clash on Molesworth St

Police and protestors clash outside Parliament: asserting the rule of law.

Julia Randerson’s prize winning story based on events in Hamilton and Johannesburg on 25 July 1981.

Artists against the Springbok Tour

History curator Stephanie Gibson gets some answers, as to why artists and designers contributed to making protest objects.

More than just rugby

It’s about politics, apartheid, racism, boycotts, protests and a secret tour.

Covering the Springbok Tour

News item and audio reports on protests at Rugby Park, Wellington and Waikato game cancellation.

A tour like no other: School Journal Year 7: Part 04 No. 02: 2011 OR

A brief history of the 1981 Springbok tour that divided the nation.

Opinion around New Zealand on the 1981 Springbok tour

Data from a poll carried out by the New Zealand Herald on July 1981 on the question 'Should a Springbok rugby team have come to New Zealand?'.

Research papers

Rugby, racism and fear

The reaction of Invercargill people to the 1981 Springbok tour of New Zealand.

Research papers

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

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

Remembering the 1981 Springbok Tour

Andrew Beyer remembers the protest against the Springbok Tour of 1981 and Nelson Mandela’s visit to New Zealand in 1995.