Our recent class discussion of the film Invictus showed that sport can influence politics. To see how sport influenced apartheid, and how the policy was viewed in other parts of the world; students are encouraged to complete the following assignment:
Research and then write a report (minimum 300 words) on why the 1981 Springbok rugby tour to New Zealand was so controversial. How was the visit by the South African rugby team viewed by the people of New Zealand? What did some New Zealand supporters try to do to stop the tour? What happened in the famous final "test" in Auckland? What happened to South Africa and all its sports teams shortly after the tour?
Please post your responses by Friday 1/22 at 8:00am.
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New Zealand erupted in turmoil in 1981. The country invited the South African Springboks for a tour throughout New Zealand. But even before South Africa arrived, there was controversy. New Zealanders were upset that they were allowing a nation with horrific segregation into their country. The authorities considered cancelling the tour, but by that time the Springboks had already arrived.
ReplyDeleteNot all New Zealanders were upset with the tour though. Some were pleased to have some good competition. Both New Zealand and South Africa are extremely competitive rugby nations and the matches between the two are often close and interesting. The pro-tour New Zealanders were pleased with the competition and the likelihood of several good sports games.
This was not the view of all however, and the protests started with the first game when the Springboks played Poverty Bay. Those who watched the game also saw a large number of protestors in the street outside. The next game was even worse. It was cancelled due to the threat of a stolen aircraft headed for the field.
The violence continued increased at the next match when the police used batons on citizens for the first time to attempt to end the protest. At the next two games, the number of protestors grew to at least 7,000. Again the police responded with the use of batons and they also dragged protesters away.
But this violence was nothing compared to the havoc created at the final match. Outside the stadium, police attempting to stop the fighting were hit with missiles and rocks. Violence was present inside the stadium as well. Flour and smoke bombs were dropped onto the field, during the game, by a Cessna aircraft rented by some protesters. Incredibly, the teams continued playing in these conditions. New Zealand won the match, but during the game an All Blacks player was hit by a flour and smoke bomb.
The Springbok Tour of 1981 was controversial because of the unpopularity of the Apartheid system in the world. At this point, many nations had already blocked South Africa from competing in international sporting events in an attempt to put the pressure onto South Africa’s government to bring about change. New Zealand was important in this way because New Zealand and South Africa were the two biggest and best rugby teams in the world and both placed a huge amount of national importance on sport at all levels. Tensions had been heightened by the Soweto Riots where police cracked down, and about seven hundred people were killed. The South African team, the Springboks, was controversial in New Zealand because New Zealand was a fairly progressive country who had a native population, the Maori. South Africa had originally refused Maori members of the New Zealand team entry but did grant them ‘honorary white’ status so that they could enter the country and play against the South African team. The South African team was, unsurprisingly, all white. The protesters felt that allowing South Africa to play in New Zealand was sanctioning the unjust Apartheid system. Many protesters were ethnically Maori and felt that this reflected on the future or potential treatment of the Maori community in New Zealand.
ReplyDeleteThe protests against the 1981 tour were some of the biggest protests that New Zealand had ever experienced. 150,000 people protested the tour and some 1500 of them were charged with crimes. Most of the protesters had college degrees or were in college at the time. During one of the games, protesters got on to the field and spread broken glass in an attempt to stop the match. The glass was cleaned up and the game was played anyway. During the Auckland game, a low flying airplane dropped flour bombs onto the field. One flour bomb hit a player on the head. Also, during the Test, smoke bombs were dropped onto the field. Out of the sixteen scheduled games for the Springbok Tour, only fourteen were actually played. The other two were canceled for security reasons.
The Springbok rugby tour in 1981 caused one of the largest civil disturbances, for more than 150,000 people took part in 200 demonstrations. Worldwide, rugby is not necessarily a major sport, however in New Zealand and South Africa, it plays a huge part in their country’s national identity as well as it being their number one sport. Disputes arose when South Africa’s Springboks came to play in New Zealand, where many opposed the Apartheid way of governing that existed during this time in South Africa.
ReplyDeleteThe Prime Minister Robert Muldoon of New Zealand was asked to cancel the Springbok tour, however he refused since he argued that his country was a free and democratic country. Some New Zealanders also didn’t feel as strongly as most did about the South African apartheid, and they were excited to watch the rugby games since they thought their opponents were good competition for their home team.
However meanwhile, many protests ran throughout the streets. Several protestors even tore down the fence and invaded the field, causing that game to be cancelled. As a result, barbed wires were put on fences to prevent any further protests or ‘interruptions’ that may occur. Police even had to create two squads, the Red and Blue Squads, in order to keep more protestors in control.
Auckland, the final game of the tour, ended early due to flour bombs (from New Zealand protestors) dropped from low flying planes onto the rugby field while the game was still going on. One flour sack even hit one of the players on the head while other smoke bombs were also being dropped. All these protests were a way of showing how much people despised the unfair laws (apartheid) in South Africa. But overall, it was amazing to see how something completely un-sports related could lead to controversial disputes over a country’s government.
South Africa and New Zealand had a long history of competitive rugby matches, and in 1981 the South African Springbucks went on a tour to New Zealand. There was controversy over the policies of South Africa’s government and some New Zealanders were apposed to South Africa’s racial segregation, leading to protests and riots. The government of Prime Minister Robert Muldoon was asked to stop the tour, but he argued that there is “no politics in sport.” The main factor behind this decision was could protestors stop a lawful game of rugby for taking place.
ReplyDeleteThe people of New Zealand did not care and the protest began at the first game. In Gisborne (the cite of the first game) protestors managed to break down a fence and reached the field. Police fought off the protestors with batons causing a few minor injuries. The protests only got worse and the second game was canceled after reports that a stolen plane was approaching the stadium. The worst of the protests was yet to come, at the final test in Auckland, low flying planes dropped flour and smoke bombs on to the field and in to the stadium. One player was truck by a flour bomb, but no deaths occurred.
Some did favor the tour and were excited for some serious competition. The protests had multiple purposes because many of the protestors were of Maori descent and were protesting the alleged racial discrimination by the New Zealand government to the native Maori people; the Maori people used the South African racial discrimination as an example and gave the protest a more diverse and global purpose.
After the tour no international sporting events took place between New Zealand and South Africa until the early 1990’s when apartheid had been fixed. Prior to the tour Africa had been banned from competing in international sporting events such as the Olympics, which South Africa was banned from in 1964.
From July to September of 1981, the world witnessed a momentously catastrophic event. The South African rugby team, Springbok toured the New Zealand continent, in an epic mission to prove themselves as the worlds greatest rugby team. Although a sport based event, this tournament spread the issues of the Apartheid overseas. The media coverage of this event shed light on the lives of the rugby players in South Africa building an awareness among the masses on the controversies surrounding the segregation issues in South Africa. People all around the work were watching the event and learning about South African culture. New Zealand, wanted the South Africans to come and tour their island in order to prove themselves as the worlds greatest rugby team, and prove their dominance. However Apartheid beliefs, weren't accepted everywhere in the world, and specifically New Zealand. And this resulted negatively in several ways. First, South Africa was banned from the 1984 Olympic games. This sent a very strong message to the South African leadership that the practice of segregation was looked upon as a violation of human rights. In May of 1981, a group of 150 athletes, from 22 different countries, including over 60 Americans, came together for the first Anti-Apartheid United Nations meeting. Notables of attendance include PGA professional Gary Player. Once the world became more aware of the issues they wanted to do something to help South Africa.
ReplyDeleteViolence commenced during the actual match. It was reported that glass was thrown off of trucks and onto the field, in an effort to injure players during the match. Another incident occurred, where sacks of flour were thrown from planes, and hit a man in the head, and caused him to be unconscious.
In 1981, South Africa’s rugby team, the Springboks, toured New Zealand. At this time, South Africa was under Apartheid, and all sporting contact was banned due to the Gleneagles Agreement. The Springboks weren’t allowed to travel to New Zealand, however the New Zealand team wasn’t going to stop a game of rugby. Before the tour even started, New Zealand was divided amongst people who opposed to tour, and people who wanted the tour to happen. The people that were against the Springbok tour were because of the way blacks were being ruled in South Africa. Others that were opposed to the tour were so because they believed it reminded New Zealand of its unresolved colonial past. Those unopposed to the tour thought that politics and sports should not be entwined, and canceling the game would be allowing the diffusion. They also wanted to protect New Zealand’s values embodied by the game of rugby.
ReplyDeleteBefore a game at Hamilton, around 400 protestors invaded the pitcher after bringing down a fence. The police arrested about 50 of them, however the rugby spectators were throwing bottles and other objects at the protesters. The game was cancelled due to a light plane flying towards the stadium. The protesters were brought to jail, where again the rugby spectators waited for them so they could attack.
In Wellington, there was a street protest at Molesworth Street where protestors would sit down. The police apparently hit protestors on their heads with batons. The protestors, in response to this, started wearing motorcycle helmets to avoid head injury. Authorities started to shut down the protestors’ communication methods, and even made an emergency escape route for players because the stadium was overrun by protestors.
The final protest at Auckland involved a plane and flour bombs. While they players were playing, the people in the plane dropped sacks of flour onto the field. The game was not cancelled, and continued to go on. One player was hit by a flour bomb during the game.
After the tour, there were suggestions that there should be a South African All Black Tour, but this was later cancelled. Another tour occurred in 1986, and nothing else happened until Apartheid ended.
When the Springboks 1981 rugby team of South Africa went on tour to the peaceful country of New Zealand, the citizens were less than thrilled to have them visiting and playing their team. Many people were against the Apartheid in New Zealand causing populace to come to civil disobedience. Some citizens tried to stop the games from occurring by driving their cars on the playing field and pouring thousands of broken glass.
ReplyDeleteIn Auckland one famous moment transpired, which the whole world witnessed as a plane flew extremely low above the field while a game was the teams compete against each other. The aircraft then proceeded to throw pamphlets on the Apartheid, catching the attention of the crowd in the stadium. The final act of the aircraft was launching flour and smoke bombs into the stadium. Unfortunately for the All Blacks, a player was hit by a smoke bomb stopping the game. Later on the Springboks were banned from playing from any other game in the world.
The 1981 South Africa’s rugby union tour of New Zealand (also known as The Springbok Tour) was a controversial tour of New Zealand by the South Africa national rugby team, known as "the Springboks". The South African policy of racial segregation was extremely opinionated in New Zealand and sparked controversy throughout the country. The Governments decision to proceed with the tour promoted widespread protests, upraises, and disturbances across New Zealand.
ReplyDeleteAs a ramification of South Africa’s Unfair treatment and discrimination of blacks and colored people alike other countries were strongly discouraged from having any sporting contacts with the country as an attempt to put more pressure on the South African government to end the Apartheid giving both blacks and whites equal rites. However, rugby was, and still is, an extremely popular sport in New Zealand, and 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 interfere with sport and whether the Springboks should be allowed to tour New Zealand.
Despite the controversy, New Zealand decided to proceed with the tour despite its commitments it had made under the Gleneagles Agreement (a campaign against apartheid, to discourage competition between South Africa’s sportsmen and sporting organizations, teams or individuals from South Africa.)
Outside the ground Riots and Mobs formed making their opinions about the tour known, fighting erupted in the streets surrounding the stadium, and police were pelted with rocks and any other weapons people could get their hands on. Although, security around the ground was the most secure the tour had seen the battle was taken to the sky above Eden Park. Marx Jones and Grant Cole in there rented airplane, which probably made the largest impact on the game. Jones and Cole dropped flares and flour bombs from the plane in an attempt to stop the game.
These multiple attempts did however prove to be successful. For many years after South Africa was banned from competing against any foreign country in any sport including the Tokyo Olympics until Apartheid was put to an end.
Between July and September of 1981 South Africa’s rugby team toured New Zealand. However, many New Zealanders greatly protested this because of South Africa’s Apartheid (which it was going through at the time). Also, the Gleneagles Agreement had banned South Africa from international sporting events (including the olympics) was now being broken. The breaking of this agreement resulted in about 150,000 people taking part in over 200 protests that took place nation wide as many people in other countries greatly disagreed with the extreme racial segregation and behavior that was going on at the time. Eventually protests escalated from minor things (such as knocking down a fence in an attempt to reach the field) to more more serious crimes which eventually resulted in several games being canceled. For one of the protests, glass was scattered over the entire stadium making it extremely dangerous to play rugby in (as it involves a lot of falling). The final “test”, however, happened in Auckland when a low-flying plane “flour bombed” (dropped bags of flour) during a game. One of the bags hit one of the players though, thankfully, nobody was hurt.
ReplyDeleteThe 1981 Springbok rugby tour was a tour of New Zealand by the Springboks, the all-white rugby team of South Africa. This tour was controversial with the people of New Zealand because they were anti-apartheid. South Africa’s team didn’t allow blacks to play, whereas the New Zealand team was made up of all blacks. Many people believed that they shouldn’t play against South Africa, because of the apartheid, but others believed that rugby was an important enough sport that they could overlook the apartheid and still play against them.
ReplyDeleteMany New Zealanders protested against the tour, often becoming violent. The New Zealand police responded with a forceful take on enforcing justice. Their tactics increased the controversy in New Zealand. Protesters interrupted a number of rugby matches, including one in Rugby Park, Hamilton, when nearly 350 protesters came onto the field. A riot broke out between the rugby supporters and the protesters and needed police involvement to break it up. There were several street protests, such as one in Wellington, that became violent.
Probably the most well known protest came during the final test match between the South Africa and North Auckland. A small plane flew over the stadium, releasing bags of flour onto the field. The game continued despite this, and one player was hit by one of the “flour bombs.” The final score of the game was 19 – 10, with South Africa emerging victorious, however the flour bombing became more discussed than the result of the game.
The police received much criticism for their actions during the Springbok rugby tour. They often became exceedingly violent in their quest for justice. Also, rugby became less popular in New Zealand until 1987 when they won the Rugby World Cup.
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ReplyDeleteIn 1981, when New Zealand invited the South African rugby team to play, the citizens of the prior country erupted in outrage. These citizens were angry at South Africa’s implementation of Apartheid, state-enforced classification and segregation and they saw the Springboks, South Africa’s all-white rugby team, as a symbol of apartheid. On July twenty-fifth, around 350 rioting protestors were able o cause a game cancellation at Rugby Park in the city of Hamilton.
ReplyDeleteThe next important event in the protests of the Springbok Tour was the Molesworth Street protest. At this protest, police supposedly hit unprotected, sitting protestors with their batons, leading to the entire protest movement in New Zealand becoming more extreme. The protests eventually disrupted television and communication systems and forced the police to up their security around public facilities like stadiums. One stadium, Eden Park, even chose to build an escape route from the visitors’ locker room in case protestors stormed the stadium.
This view of disgust however, was not shared by all kiwis. While 350 protestors could cause a game cancellation, stadiums were still packed with fans who weren’t as interested in the political side of the sport. These fans simply were excited at the prospect of a string of competitive games. Unfortunately the rugby fans were assumed to be making a political statement and in at least one instance they were kept in the stadium until the protesting crowds outside dispersed,
The ‘final test’ was the last South Africa versus New Zealand game during the Springboks’ Rugby Union Tour of New Zealand on September 12, 1981. The stadium officials heightened security to the highest levels yet but to no avail. Two men, Grant Cole and Marx Jones piloted a small plane above the stadium, dropping both flour bombs and anti-Apartheid pamphlets onto the field. The flour bombs injured one player and causing numerous delays. These and spectator-caused disturbances resulted in the game being cut short.
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ReplyDeleteIn 1981 when New Zealand heard that the South African rugby team would be coming to compete with the All Blacks chaos struck. The government of New Zealand completely disagreed with Apartheid and the Prime Minister was asked by the people to stay true to the Gleneagles Agreement. This agreement discouraged contact and competition with South Africa. The government decided not to interfere and said their position was “no politics in sports”.
ReplyDeleteThe country was split in two. Half of New Zealand disliked South Africa for what they were doing and wanted them out, the other half wanted to see the two best rugby teams face off. On July 25, before the 2nd game of the tour, a crowd of 350 invaded the stadium. The police were so overwhelmed that they stared throwing bottle at the protesters. An hour passed and only 50 people were arrested, when the authorities heard that a plane had been stolen and was heading for the field. The police then decided to cancel the game. While the rioters were waiting to be released from jail, a group of rugby supporters collected outside. Once the protesters were let free, they were assaulted by the fans.
This continued until the last match in Auckland. During this game, gangs of both sides were rioting, but the big event was when a plane kept flying over the field and started dropping bags of flour on to the players. Despite the field being covered in flour and that some people got hit in the head with flour bombs the game continued.
Even though South Africa had been banned from sporting events prior to the tour; after the tour more countries prohibited competition with any South Africa team. Because of Apartheid South Africa was banned from the 1964 Olympics, cricket, and rugby.
In 1981, the South Africa rugby team, the Springboks, spent three months in New Zealand on a rugby tour. At this point in time, South Africa’s rugby team consisted of only white players as a result of apartheid. Many of New Zealand’s normally peaceful citizens revolted, including the organizations HART and CARE. The massive, violent protests resulted in the cancellation of two scheduled matches. Those who revolted were opposed to playing against a South Africa team, which was still under apartheid. Competing with South African teams was viewed as supporting the apartheid government. In addition, New Zealand had previously signed the Gleneagles Agreement. This agreement stated that no members of the Commonwealth of Nations would compete in sports with South Africa until apartheid was abolished. The purpose of this agreement was to apply pressure on South Africa to eliminate apartheid. Though many were strongly opposed to the Springboks’ tour, some looked forward to their presence on the field. Many avid fans looked forward to the matches because the Springboks and the All Blacks had a longstanding rivalry and were equally matched on the field; this made for a riveting game. The citizens of New Zealand actively attempted to prevent the teams from playing. Protestors invaded the field and broken glass was thrown on the grass. At the final test in Auckland, an extreme act of rebellion occurred. Marx Jones and Grant Cole flew a plane low above the stadium, and dropped flour bombs and flares onto the field below. A flour bomb struck one All Blacks player, yet the team (All Blacks) proceeded to win, defeating the all white, apartheid-influenced Springboks. The effects of the tour were felt by both New Zealand and South Africa. New Zealand did not tour South Africa until after apartheid ended, and the country was extremely polarized regarding the controversial issue. During apartheid, the international community boycotted many South African sports teams, and South Africa was banned from the 1964 Olympics. Following the Springboks’ tour, more nations boycotted South African sports teams. In 1995, after the fall of apartheid, South Africa continued on to win the Rugby World Cup. The publicized protests helped to slowly put an end to apartheid.
ReplyDelete1981 Springbok tour
ReplyDeleteThe 1981 Springbok rugby tour to Zealand was controversial because of the Apartheid system in South Africa. In the 1950s and 1960s the apartheid rules caused conflict amongst the team selectors. They would select their player by race first than ability second. This caused South Africa to cancel their 1968 tour by the government; the reason they cancelled the tour was the boycotting and pressure on South Africa. A group called HART (halt all racist tour) cancelled the 1973 South African tour to New Zealand because of South Africa’s continual selection of players by race first and ability second.
Activists for the New Zealand government wanted Prime Minister Robert Muldoon to cancel the tour because they did not want a nation with awful segregation to be entering their country. Muldoon made his decision and granted permission to the South African team to arrive in New Zealand on July 19, 1981. There were many public protests around New Zealand, but rugby fans continued to fill the stadiums while protest crowds would be filling the streets. On one occasion they succeeded in invading and stopping the game. To protect the touring Springboks from rioters, the police created two riot squads, the red and blue squads. At the first game in Gisborne protesters managed to break through the fence, but they were stopped by ground security before they could disrupt the game.
After the Hamilton game was cancelled a street protest followed, in Wellington’s Molesworth Street. Probably one of the most memorable moments during the Springbok tour was the Auckland plane invasion. During the last test match a plane, piloted by Marx Jones and Grant Cole, disrupted the game by dropping flour and smoke bombs onto the field. When the plane landed Marx Jones and Grant Cole were arrested. Despite the flour and smoke bombing the game still continued.
In New Zealand rugby fell into a brief decline until the country’s victory in the first Rugby World Cup in 1987. The South Africa could not tour until the apartheid fell, even though they could not tour an unofficial tour took place in 1986.
The people of New Zealand were strongly against the idea of Apartheid and were appalled that the rugby teams of South Africa were chosen according to race. They did not want to stand idly by and let this unfairness and inequality continue, but at the same time, South Africa was New Zealand’s biggest rival in the sport of rugby and they wanted to play the South African team extremely badly. The people of New Zealand were greatly split by the two wants and, therefore, when the tour of New Zealand by the South African rugby team was grated, many were glad and many were strongly against the idea. They felt that by allowing the South African team to tour in New Zealand they were condoning Apartheid and they were strongly against sending that message. Many countries along with New Zealand protested strongly and cut off communication with Africa saying 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 organizations, teams or sportsmen from South Africa or from any other country where sports are organized on the basis of race, colour or ethnic origin.” To protest the South African rugby team touring in New Zealand, many people stormed the field where the games were supposed to be played, performed violent acts and/or threw things at rugby team members and supporters. This manner of protest caused the Hamilton game to be cancelled, a violent protest in the streets following the cancelled Hamilton game, and riots outside of where some games were played. The police in New Zealand were forced to take action and arrest many of the protestors in order to protect rugby fans and rugby players. Security around New Zealand sports arenas was heightened. In the final “test’ in Aukland, protestors in a plane flying very low to the ground, sropped flour bombs on the field while the rugby players were playing. The game continued on while the bombs were being dropped until finally the players were evacuated for their safety. After this, the South African rugby team were barred from touring New Zealand until after Apartheid no longer was enforced in South Africa. An unofficial tour did take place where the Cavaliers, a team of All Blacks players, visited New Zealand, but otherwise, New Zealand refused access to South Africa until they had discarded racial unfairness.
ReplyDeleteIn 1981, the South African national rugby team lead perhaps the most controversial rugby tour of all time. It was named the springbok tour due to the name of the team, the Springboks. The major objection to this, held by New Zealand and others around the globe, was the Apartheid system of government.
ReplyDeleteAlso, The New Zealand team, named the All Blacks, had recently been taking heat for, surprisingly, making racially based selections for players on the team. Due to Apartheid and other racism happening at the time, this stirred up a lot of conflict with the African continent.
The Springboks’ New Zealand tour was proposed in 1980. This caused great civil disturbance due to the widespread hatred of the Apartheid government. The South Africans were pressured by other African nations as well as a group called H.A.R.T. (Halt All Raciest Tours) to decline. Also, the prime minister of New Zealand was personally asked to cancel the tour for political reasons. There was such opposition to the tour that the continent of Australia refused the Springboks permission to refuel on Australian soil. However, the Springboks refused to cancel their tour.
South Africa dominated in all of the rugby matches, only losing once. At all of the games there were minor protests, but these were easily handled by police. However, during the final match of the tour, Auckland, two protesters by the names of Marx Jones and Grant Cole piloted a small aircraft above the game and dropped flour bombs onto the felid. Regardless, the game continued and one player was struck and nocked unconscious.
This tour had many serious repercussions for the people of South Africa. No rugby was played against New Zealand until after the fall of Apartheid. Perhaps one of the most notable consequences was the boycott of the 1984 Olympics.
South Africa's people were already divided due to Apartheid. The separation of South Africa and other countries, however, increased the tension among South Africans and especially New Zealand.
ReplyDeleteIn 1981, the South African Rugby team, known as the Springboks, competed against the New Zealand team, the All Blacks, in the rugby tour referred to as the Springbok tour. Due to Apartheid, all of the players on South Africa's team were white. If the passion and intensity of sports didn't cause competition between countries before, this rugby tour was sure to increase the tension more than ever seen before. The people of New Zealand did not agree with South Africa's Apartheid policies, and they made their opinions clear during the rugby game. The people of New Zealand were outraged at this rugby tour. Activists angrily stormed the streets while protest groups, such as HART, were formed, hoping to cease the rugby exchange between South Africa and New Zealand. This sports controversy seeped into politics, causing questions to arise regarding New Zealand's government approving of such a game, where South Africa used race as a factor of athleticism. It was made clear, however, that politics and sports should not go hand in hand. Many New Zealand citizens took it into their own hands in order to voice their harsh opinions, disagreeing with Apartheid, displaying them through actions, many of which took place during the games. During the match in Auckland, these opinions were seen in the form of a small airplane, flying over the field, dropping bags of flour. Despite the fact that these "flour bombs" hit a player and disrupted the game, it was not the only way people showed their disapprovement of South Africa's all white team. Many protests were present, as well as charges of attempted murder committed by these activist.
This was not the end of boycotts involving not only South Africa and Apartheid, but also their sports teams. They were not allowed to compete in the 1964 Olympics. After the end of Apartheid, South Africa was able to win the Rugby World Cup.
Why was the 1981 Springbok rugby tour to New Zealand was so controversial.
ReplyDeleteThe 1981 Springbok rugby tour of New Zealand was controversial because of the appearance of the the South Africa National Rugby Union Team, known as the Springboks. The South African policy of racial segregation initiated controversy throughout New Zealand. The continuation of the tour sparked protests all across the country. South Aftrica was considered a pariah because of its policies and were banned from many sporting events during Apartheid. However the Springboks were considered to be New Zealand's more formidable competitor, therefore people were torn as to whether politics should carry into the sporting world.
How was the visit by the South African rugby team viewed by the people of New Zealand?
There were a couple different opinions from the citizens of New Zealand. Many considered it a monstrosity to allow a country who had previously encouraged racial segregation, to bring an all-white rugby team into New Zealand. Additionally, the native population of New Zealand is Maori, who were originally refuse access into South Africa. Most natives were not eager to allow a South African team into their country. However, some New Zealand-ers were excited by the prospect of an exciting game. Because the Springbok were considered New Zealand’s competition, the people wanted to see an exhilarating sports game
What did some New Zealand supporters try to do to stop the tour?
The Prime Minister Robert Muldoon of New Zealand was first addressed and asked to end the rugby tour. He did not acquiesce, arguing that his country was a free country. So protesters filled the streets to oppose the tour. There were more than 150,000 who took part in 200 demonstrations. Some even took down the fence of one game, causing it to be cancelled.
What happened in the famous final "test" in Auckland?
This was the memorable game because an airplane flew down and dropped flour bombs on the field. One bomb even hit a New Zealand player in the head. The game continued on. The protestors wanted to make sure their voices would be heard.
What happened to South Africa and all its sports teams shortly after the tour?
They were banned from the 1984 Olympics.
The 1981 Springbok Rugby Tour instigated great controversy amongst the people of New Zealand. During this time, the apartheid system was at its height, causing complete segregation of the black population in South Africa. This influenced the fact that South Africa’s rugby team only consisted of white players. Since New Zealand was completely against South Africa’s politics, question of whether or not the team should be allowed to play was brought up.
ReplyDeleteAs a result, several protests broke out in New Zealand. The Prime Minister Robert Muldoon was eventually asked to stop the rugby tour, however he refused and replied that there are “no politics in sports.” Also, South Africa was New Zealand’s only worthy opponent at the time, so in this case, their competitive nature justified their decision to openly invite this segregated team.
New Zealanders had an instant reaction to the event, by holding several riots against the South African team. The major riots began at the Springbok Tour’s first game in Poverty Bay. The number of protesters elevated so much during the second game, that it was canceled because of threat of a stolen aircraft.
These problems escalated during the game at Auckland. Protesters dropped smoke bombs onto the rugby fields in hopes of putting the game to an end. Also, several flour bombs were dropped, one hitting a player directly on the head. Simultaneously, the plane that dropped the bomb threatened to crash into the crowded stands of people. It is interesting to see how involved politics were in these particular sports games, which are meant for pure entertainment. However, the protesters never actually attempted to directly harm the players, just end the games. This implies that their goal was purely to help attain peace and equality by treating the white South Africans how the blacks are treated at the supposed comfort of their own country.
The controversial aspects of the rugby tour include the racial segregation, South Africa’s policy of Apartheid, and the flour bomb test. The apartheid was widely hated by other countries and these countries were strongly urged to avoid any sort of athletic contact with South Africa. However, New Zealanders love rugby and considered South Africa to be one of their most fearsome opponents. This caused a difference in opinion to develop in New Zealand. Some thought it was wrong for politics to interfere with their sports programs, while other agreed that they should have nothing to do with South Africa. In the end, New Zealand decided to go ahead with the tour.
ReplyDeleteMany New Zealanders were still against the idea of the tour and proceeded to protest it in hoped of putting and end to it. The protesters were vehement about this and tried to persuade Prime Minister Robert Muldoon to cancel the tour. He argued, however, that his country was a free one and that politics have no place in sporting affairs. Despite this setback, the protesters still continued to hold rallies demonstrations and managed to get 150,000 people to sign a petition that would ban the tour. On July 22, the protesters managed to break through a fence during a rugby game and cause the officials to cancel it.
In Auckland, during the final match of the tour on September twelfth, a low-flying plane operated by Marx Jones and Grant Cole interrupted the match by dropping flour bombs on the field. Although one player was actually hit in the head, the game went on. Afterwards, South Africa had to deal with the aftermath of the tour. First, they were not allowed to compete in rugby or any other sport competitions until Apartheid was abolished. Second, they were banned from competing in the 1984 Olympics.
The New Zealand Rugby Union’s decision to have the South African Springboks tour the country was highly controversial. South Africa at this time was not well liked due to the absolutely horrendous system currently in place: Apartheid. In fact there was a Commonwealth ban on all sporting contact with South Africa. This was known as the Gleneagles Agreement. It had been in place since July of 1977, however the Rugby Union decided to ignore this and continue with the planned tour. New Zealanders were divided over the issue of the tour before it had even started! Some felt that politics had no place in sports, but others felt that South Africa was not welcome into the country in any form, even as nothing more then a sports team.
ReplyDeleteOnce under way the tour was nothing but disaster, with New Zealanders fighting amongst themselves at every turn. The Hamilton game on July 25 was cancelled due to the several hundred anti-tour protestors who stormed the field. On the July 29th Wellington game the police and protestor came to a head, fighting in the streets outside Parliament in Wellington. Exactly a month later, in the same town, over 7,000 anti-tour New Zealanders barricaded the streets leading to the stadium so that no one could get to the game. Again the police had to fight with them, using batons to subdue them and dragging many protestors away. The most famous protest happened at the Auckland test. A group of protestors stole a Cessna aircraft and proceeded to drop massive bags of flour, “flour bombs” onto the field. There was pandemonium as protestors once again fought with the police force as players attempted to evade the flying projectiles. One player was hit.
The 1910 Springbok tour helped the anti-Apartheid movement in South Africa. Nelson Mandela recalled that when he was heard from his prison cell that the game in Hamilton had been cancelled, it was as “if the sun had come out”. Now, with South Africa free of Apartheid, the country has been selected to hold the 2010 Soccer World Cup, a huge honor.
The 1981 Springbok rugby tour in New Zealand was so controversial, because South African’s government still had racial segregation policies, which added controversy to New Zealanders. After the decision to keep the tour going, people in New Zealand started to protest. While New Zealand kept going, other countries agreed with the protesters and wanted to have no part in playing sports with South Africa.
ReplyDeleteThe South African rugby team appearance was both positive and negative. Some people in New Zealand didn’t mind the South African rugby team staying in the tour because they thought that sports and politics are too different to interfere with each other. Others in New Zealand thought that the tour should be canceled because they didn’t want a segregated country to infiltrate theirs. So these people protested, which lead to police taking a whole step farther into riot squads. Riot squads consisted of people that needed to wear visor helmets and were equipped with batons to attempt to calm down protesters. During these attempts to clam protesters down, many protesters were hurt or seriously injured by the batons used by the riot squads.
In Hamilton, (a rugby park) while the rugby game was being played, protesters got onto the field by pulling down a fence. Police arrested as many people as they could to control the protesters from ending the game. Since the police were controlling the protesters, they could not control the crowd of people in the stands who were throwing many different objects at the protesters. Because of the protesters trying to end the game and the fans throwing objects, the game was canceled.
The final test match was held at Eden Park, Auckland. During this final match, a low flying plane stopped the game more than once, by throwing flour bombs out of the plane and onto the field. Some of these flour bombs landed on players from both teams, causing injuries of many kinds. Flyers were also thrown out of the plane to spread protests and to end the game. Flares also showed up on the field, but they only caused there to be smoke. Due to this “plane invasion,” the game was almost canceled, but New Zealand won the match at the end.
In 1981, South Africa’s rugby team, the Springboks, toured to New Zealand. During this time, the apartheid system of government was still in place. This system classified people into groups based on ethnicity; black, colored, and white. The black and colored people were discriminated against by the white. While New Zealand is mostly a peaceful country, many of its citizens protested the South African’s being there. The citizens of New Zealand objected the all white South African Team. The South African government also banned the sports team from playing against any teams with mixed races. Therefore, the South Africans could not play the New Zealand Maori team. This greatly upset the New Zealanders.
ReplyDeleteMany of New Zealand’s citizens protested the game with the Springboks. The Prime Minister of New Zealand, Robert Muldoon, was asked to halt the rugby games. However, he refused. New Zealand had previously signed the Gleneagles Agreement in 1977. It stated that the common wealth nations could not participate in sports with South Africa until the Apartheid laws were eliminated. This also caused a lot of unrest with the citizens. They believed that they should not play the South African Springboks.
On July 25th, 1981, about 350 rioters invaded Waikako Stadium. Police canceled the rugby match and arrested about fifty protestors. These protests led to two game cancellations total. During the final test in Auckland, a plane flew dangerously low over the rugby game, bombing the teams with flour and smoke bombes. Ironically, an All Blacks player was hit with one of the flower bombes and the game was eventually canceled. Fighting also erupted on the streets outside the stadium between protesters and the New Zealand police.
After the tour, the South African teams were not aloud to participate in games in other countries until Apartheid was abolished.
In 1981 the South African rugby team, the Springboks, went to New Zealand for a rugby tour. They were in New Zealand for three months before they returned to South Africa. They were scheduled for sixteen games but only played fourteen as two were canceled due to dangerous circumstances.
ReplyDeleteDuring this period South Africa had their racial segregation policy, Apartheid, in motion. Some of the New Zealanders found these laws to be unbelievable and in opposition of the racial South Africa, tried to stop as many games as they could by protesting and violence. This never happened in New Zealand, which was, and still is an extremely peaceful place. The peoples hate of South Africa, whose all white team refused to play the Maori New Zealand team, was incredible during this time period because of Apartheid.
But the uproar in New Zealand was only shared by half of the country. South Africa had an extremely good rugby team and was a main competitor with New Zealand. Rugby, being one of the biggest sports in New Zealand, was very important to the people and they wanted to watch good rugby and because South Africa and New Zealand both had great teams, their games against each other would be very good to watch. This made the opinions of the New Zealanders split down the middle. Half the country wanted to watch good rugby while the other half wanted to show South Africa what they thought of Apartheid.
The protests against the South African’s tour of New Zealand could be very violent. They were so many angry protesters that they had to be two riots squads put together to stop the riots and protests. The protesters would do anything they could to stop the games and in a couple instants they actually pushed through a fence and into an arena where they were once stopped by police and very angry rugby fans. But the protesting did not stop there. In one instance some protesters took Land Rovers and dumped bins of broken glass onto the field making it unplayable. One of the biggest protests happened during the last game of the tour, which is now referred to as the “Final Test”. During this test a light aircraft piloted by a protester was flown over the game. Before the game had started the pilot had threatened to crash the plane into the grand stand over the radios. The plane also dropped anti-Apartheid pamphlets, flairs and bags of flour called “flour bombs” during the actual game while he did not follow through with the crashing threat. There were also many protesting groups or criminal gangs that were present. This however did not stop the game and it ended up in a New Zealand win.
The aftermath of the tour was not promising for South Africa. Many other countries, after seeing the violence in New Zealand, decided that they did not want any South African sports teams to play in their countries. This was out of fear and protest of the Apartheid policy that South Africa had in place. Until Apartheid was demolished, the South Africans could not play sports outside their own country. Many people speculate that this was another reason Apartheid was demolished because the South Africans loved rugby and other sports too much to let them go with out being able to play other countries.
In 1981 the nation of South Africa was under apartheid where the black were separated from the whites. Many people of the world thought that this notion was appalling, and tried to do whatever they could to rebel against it. In 1981 the “springboks” or the South Africa national rugby team was to play New Zealand in the South Africa rugby union tour of New Zealand. This team consisted of entirely white men because no black man was allowed to play for the national team. Even just the approval of this tour caused many riots in the land of New Zealand. However, one of the most important and popular sports in New Zealand is rugby and the South African team was to be their best opponent. Many people were split over the political issues, and the want for a good game of rugby.
ReplyDeleteSo the tour decided to continue with continuing riots form the New Zealand people who wanted to make their statement clear about what they thought of apartheid. This was not the opinion of all of the New Zealanders and many people had split households over the issue. Some people said their parents had to separate themselves because of the tension this event created in their households.
Finally the last game was in Auckland, which was the final test of the anti-tour protesters: “the flour bomb protest.” A pilot named Marx Jones flew a small, light weight plane, very low over the match as it was going and dropped flour bombs over the players as they battled the game of rugby below them. With the assistance of his friend Grant Cole they managed to drop flour bombs, paper pamphlets, smoke bombs and other distracting objects. Despite these interferences the teams played on until finally New Zealand took the victory. South African did not officially play New Zealand again until 1992 when the apartheid had been repealed.
The Springbok rugby tour to New Zealand of 1981, which took place throughout the month of July, August, and September, was recognized as being one of the most controversial sporting events in South African and New Zealand history. The discrimination and segregation of different races is what began to create controversy within this sporting event. The South African segregation was not something many countries wanted to get involved with; hence, the other countries would try to avoid South Africa and sustain as little interaction with the South African society as possible.
ReplyDeleteNew Zealand was a country that was dedicated to the game they were truly passionate about, rugby, and found it difficult to refuse the South African team, The Springboks. When this controversy found its way to the people of New Zealand, they were not pleased about bringing the South African rugby team to their country. This tension among the people created an internal fury in New Zealand and caused large amounts of protesting on the streets. The protesting attracted the attention of police forces, and they attempted to stop the rioting.
The famous final “test” took place in Auckland, on September 12th 1981 and it happened during the final game of the tour. There was an airplane that flew down close to the ground as the game was in progress and dropped bombs onto the rugby field. However, these were not just any regular bombs that were dropped onto the field. The New Zealand protesters gathered large quantities of flour bags and dropped these out of the low-flying aircrafts that ravaged the rugby game. This obviously discontinued the game that was currently in session at the time of the attack. After the bombing and protesting, more attention was drawn to the issue of apartheid and the apartheid was gone thirteen years later.
The 1981 Springbok rugby tour in New Zealand sparked incredible controversy among the citizens of the island nation. Kiwis were torn between their love of rugby and their disgust at the injustices towards native black Africans under South Africa’s apartheid system of government. The national New Zealand team (the All Blacks) was considered one of the best in the world, with their most formidable opponent being South Africa’s national Springboks. While the government of New Zealand had decided to discourage all sporting contact with South Africa at the Gleneagles Agreement, Prime Minister Robert Muldoon chose not to let politics interfere with sports and therefore did not prevent the New Zealand Rugby Union from organizing the tour.
ReplyDeleteConflict began brewing when Australia refused to allow the plane containing the South African players to refuel on Aussie soil on the flight from Africa to New Zealand. Protests were rampant during the Springboks’ stay in New Zealand, so much so that the New Zealand police department was forced to introduce two riot squads (the Red and Blue squads) equipped for the first time in New Zealand’s history with long batons and riot helmets. Unrest reached levels such that rugby supporters were required to be in the stadium at least an hour before the start of the game.
While many of the protests were peaceful, angry mobs began to disrupt matches in late July. Firstly, rioters broke the fence at a July 22 match, but the game continued as soon as the protestors were contained. Three days later, a match was canceled because of excessive rioting. Protestors began to wear motorcycle helmets to protect against violent police opposition.
Finally, on September 12 at the final test match in Auckland, Marx Jones and Grant Cole repeatedly buzzed the rugby pitch in a small airplane, dropping white flour sacks representative of the South Africans’ white-skinned world. The Springboks and All Blacks continued to play despite this inconvenience, but the game was obviously disrupted.
After this controversial tour, the All Blacks and the Springboks did not play until the 1990s when apartheid fell (although an unofficial New Zealand team did tour within South Africa in 1985). This disastrous tour arguably led to a decrease in rugby’s popularity within New Zealand until the All Blacks became world champions in 1987. The police brutality in response to some of the riots also caused the fairness of New Zealand’s law enforcement system to fall under question.
*Mr. Webber--my research says that South Africa was banned from international sports prior to this tour (in 1977). Is that wrong?
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ReplyDeleteThe Springbok tour of 1981 brought chaos to the nation of New Zealand. Although New Zealand met its most deserving opponent in the South African rugby team, many New Zealanders resisted the touring team due to their controversial form of government. Dispute over apartheid practiced in South Africa brought New Zealanders to the tour’s playing fields for more than innocent rugby viewings.
ReplyDeleteThe South African apartheid policy had already discouraged many countries from competing against South African athletic teams, so New Zealand had a significant decision to make in inviting the South African team to their homeland. The controversy over the tour of South Africa to New Zealand formed a schism in the opinions of New Zealand citizens. Some of the population was enthusiastic about hosting one of the world’s best rugby teams. Rugby was a large part of the New Zealand culture and citizens believed a good game should not be outlawed due to political policies. Other New Zealanders were so opposed to the South African apartheid that they disagreed with allowing the team to play on their soil and tour their country.
In the end, though pressured to forbid the tour, New Zealand Prime Minister Robert Muldoon chose to promote the Springbok tour saying that politics should not be interwoven with sports. So the games began.
Major protests began before the first game in New Zealanders’ efforts to express their opposition to apartheid and sabotage the games. Rioters broke fences to reach the rugby fields, threw rocks and other easily obtained ‘weapons’ at officers, and spread broken glass on the field all to portray their hostility towards the all Black South African team’s apartheid government. It has also been said that these riots stirred other New Zealanders who were a part of a New Zealand discriminated minority group called Maoris. These people were able to relate in a way to the apartheid governed team and so were compelled to fight against it.
The final test, the tour’s last game saw the rugby world’s two greatest teams, South African Springboks and New Zealand North Aukland, ready to fight for the winning title. In Aukland, Both teams were driven towards victory and New Zealanders even more desperate for their opinions of apartheid to be understood. Marx Jones and Grant Cole flew their light aircraft over the field causing the stands to go tense. Smoke and flour bombs dropped from the plane causing a frenzy on ground level yet the game continued. One South African player was hit by a flour bomb but other than that, no one was hurt during the attack.
After the Springbok tour in New Zealand, South Africa had no sports contact with any outside countries until 1992 when the apartheid came to an end.
In 1981 the South African Springbok rugby team traveled to New Zealand to compete. The tour was extremely controversial. The rugby tour was encouraged by some New Zealanders while others did not want the apartheid-influenced team in their country. Most of New Zealand resisted apartheid but they wanted to have the rugby tournament because the Springboks were one of New Zealand’s most formidable competitors in the sport.
ReplyDeleteSome of the New Zealand supporters tried to stop the tour by having protests in the streets and during one match, an airplane was flying towards the stadium. While rugby fans watched from inside the stadium, protestors stood outside the stadium wanting to keep politics and sports separate from each other. The police did not know what to do sometimes because they were supposed to stop riots even though they knew apartheid was wrong. Two out the sixteen matches that were supposed to have been played were cancelled due to safety reasons.
During the final “test” in Auckland, flour bombs were dropped onto the rugby field as the match was being held. New Zealand protestors were discharging the flour bombs. One of the flour bombs hit a player on the head while he was on the field. There were some glass shards scattered all over the playing field so that the teams could not compete. There was a lot of violence throughout the tour as a result of people’s hatred for apartheid.
Two of the most talented teams in the sport of Rugby: New Zealand and South Africa; played a series of matches in New Zealand as part of the Springbok Tour. The tour was to last for sixteen matches and was held in 1981.
ReplyDeleteThe tragedy of Apartheid riled up perfervid crowds living in New Zealand against the games and what they stand for. The South African team consisted of all white players, (the minority in South Africa), and no black players. This was not simply due to coincidence, rather it was against the law for blacks to play on the National team. The New Zealanders were enraged by the madness of the whites who inhabited South Africa and openly protested against it.
The government was encouraged by its citizens to abide by the precepts stated in the Gleneagles agreement. The agreement prohibited international sport between South Africa and its signatories. The Prime Minister in a public statement claimed, “No Politics in Sports.”
Thankfully the noble and courageous peoples of New Zealand did not stand for such lunacy. The protests continued throughout the duration of the tour and the uprising became more and more fierce and zealous with each passing day.
Although it is difficult for Americans to comprehend, international sport is war. New Zealand’s rugby team was at war with South Africa, but more importantly: Apartheid. In one protest land rovers burst onto the field and pored broken shards of glass onto the turf disallowing the games to continue without much delay.
A more violent demonstration was the final “test” in Auckland, New Zealand’s capital. A small aircraft shadowed over the stadium threatening to crash into the packed stands. The spectators witnessed the same plane drop flour bombs onto the field frightening and injuring players. Above all the chaos a ballon flaunting a poster with the single name of a martyr “BIKO” floated over the stadium, and forever imprinted the image of racism into the hearts of New Zealand.
Shortly after the tour South Africa was banned from the 1984 olympics which raised much controversy.
The South African national rugby team was on tour in New Zealand in 1981. The South African Springboks played the 14 games in New Zealand, three of which were against the New Zealand All Blacks. However, the games did not go peacefully and as planned. The South African rugby team was made up of all white players and this was deemed unacceptable by most countries, although most did not wish to get involved with the country’s policies. New Zealand’s citizens, however, were infuriated by the fact that Blacks did not have even the right to play on the national sport team. Over 150,000 New Zealanders were involved in the 200 demonstrations protesting the South African team’s policy.
ReplyDeleteThe New Zealanders’ number one sport was and continues to be rugby. However, in the 1981 tour, many citizens of New Zealand were putting rugby aside. The South African team and the White government that made the seemingly ludicrous national policy. New Zealand’s citizens attempted several times to stop the matches by invading the pitches, attacking the players, or damaging the field (with broken glass in one case). Two games were canceled due to these violent protests, but it is not fair to say that all New Zealanders were trying to prevent the games from happening either. In fact, many wanted the games to go on and fought with the protestors. Police for the most part supported their government’s demands, though many were not sure that what they were doing was correct.
The final “test match” was played against New Zealand on September 12th, and a famous protest took place in which a low-flying private pilot and passenger flew over the Eden Park stadium and dropped bags of flower on the field. The game was disrupted, and one New Zealand player was even hit, but the game continued and the final score was 22-25 in New Zealand’s favor. From 1982-92, no rugby matches took place between the two countries, and South Africa was also banned from the 1984 olympics.
In 1981 the normally peaceful and orderly country of New Zealand became, for a short time, a conflicted nation when it invited the South African Springbok rugby team into the country to play a tour. This was highly controversial, however, as South Africa had become internationally shunned and banned from playing sports internationally in many countries due to its policy of apartheid, which enforced the superiority of whites over blacks. To many New Zealanders, the South African rugby team embodied the South African racism, as their players were exclusively whites. Thousands of New Zealanders protested, and the authorities considered cancelling the tour, but by then the South African Springboks had already arrived. Not all people were against the tour, however; many people supported New Zealand's Prime Minister Robert Muldoon's beliefs that "politics should stay out of sport." New Zealand's All Blacks and South Africa's Springboks were two of the best rugby teams in the world, and had a long history of fierce but friendly competition, and many people simply wanted to enjoy the sport. This conflict first came to a head at a game in Hamilton where approximately 350 rioting protesters invaded the pitch after tearing down a fence using nothing but brute force. The police were called in and they arrested about 50 of the protesters, but they were almost unable to control the rugby crowd, which threw bottles and other debris at the protesters. The game was finally cancelled after it was heard that a stolen plane was approaching the stadium. After several more instances of protesting and rioting, the conflict reached its peak at the final match of the tour in Auckland. Both sides were very riled up, and the police were fairly hard pressed to keep order, but the biggest surprise and shock came when two protesters flew a plain over the stadium dropping bags of flour onto the field. Despite this, and one player actually being hit by one of the "flour bombs," the game continued, and thankfully no one there was seriously hurt.
ReplyDeleteJohn Heenan.
ReplyDeleteThe 1981 Springbok tour of New Zealand was very controversial. A major debate ran in New Zealand politics about whether or not to hold the tour. At one point, the debate came down to a simple question: do we make this a question of politics, or of sport. At the time, New Zealand and South Africa were two of the only seriously competitive rugby teams in the world. The New Zealanders, who were asked to host the event during the height of apartheid. Eventually, the New Zealand government decided that the matter was one to be handled as a sport, and not politically, and allowed the tour to take place. This as met by opposition by many New Zealanders, who were very much opposed to apartheid, and the concept of hosting the South African team in their country. This became such a point of contention that riots broke out throughout the country at the arrival of the South African team. This is particularly unusual in New Zealand, which is traditionally a very peaceful country. Nonetheless, protesters demonstrated their displeasure with the foreign team through riots and protests throughout the country. At one point, during a particularly important match of the tour, in Eden Park, Auckland, a small plane overflew the pitch, or field of play, and dropped several flour bombs onto the field, disrupting game play temporarily. Despite this, game play was continued, following the dropping of these “bombs”. It should be noted that the majority of protests throughout the country were peaceful, but certain pockets of violence that developed attracted the majority of attention, both from the media and from the locals, along with the police. The Springbok tour of 1981 was important to the sport of rugby, but it also demonstrated that the people of New Zealand, and the people of the world, were not going to stand for apartheid, and those who would support it. The tour showed that the people of South Africa were not welcome while apartheid was being carried out.
In the Summer of 1981, the South African Springboks and the New Zealand All Blacks were about to face off in the most anticipated rugby game of the season. During the tour, New Zealander was in unrest over to support their nation’s number one sport or to take a stand against the evils of apartheid. A Commonwealth ban on all sporting contact with South Africa (known as the Gleneagles Agreement) was and had been in place since 1977. However, the pro-tour government was eagerly anticipating this match and proclaimed to disregard politics in sport. Many people took to the streets all sharing the common belief that supporting a sports team from South Africa was also supporting a racist and oppressive government. Over 150,000 people took part in uprisings throughout the county in over 200 separate demonstrations. Rugby grounds were thrashed and protests quickly turned violent upon the arrival of the riot police and zealous rugby fans. During a match between the Sringboks and the Waikato, protesters invaded and intercepted the pitch. This caused crazed rugby fans to attack the protestors on the field. In Auckland, the “Final Test” (the final game of the tour) took place when a light plane bombarded the field and players with bags of flour. This resulted in the injury of All Black player Gary Knight. The two organizations responsible for this demonstration were H.A.R.T. and C.A.R.E. 1,500 were charged for these anti-tour protests. These protests succeeded in integrating sports and politics. After this incident, the sport suffered greatly and took years to recover it’s fan base. As an unexpected result, the role of police became highly controversial after their unorthodox methods of crowd control.
ReplyDeleteIn recent years, the All Blacks have had considerable success in international competition, with particular traditions of defeating the South African Springboks.
Sports made a enormous impact on society and politics when it came to rugby and South African apartheid. From 1948 until 1994, South Africa suffered under the rule of apartheid, meaning separateness in Afrikaans. During this time in South Africa, the government supported racial separation and discrimination, which gave white people complete dominance, power, riches, and luxury, while the natives were treated like dirt. All over the world, people were outraged by this awful inequality. In particular, New Zealand believed this apartheid was so wrong and immoral, so they decided to speak up about it. Protest groups urged their Prime Minister, Robert Muldoon, to disallow the Springboks, the South African rugby team, from touring in New Zealand. However, Muldoon did not listen to their objections, and the South African team flew to this previously peaceful island. The New Zealanders were infuriated by this! They did not want to be in any way encouraging the action of apartheid. During the Rugby games against the South African team, multitudes of people who all disapproved of apartheid came to the games and yelled at the Springboks. These protestors started riots, began fights, vandalized the playing fields, pushed past the local police, and so much more always in the pursuit of pressuring South Africa to finally end its injustice. During the final game of the New Zealand tour, the Springboks played against the All Blacks in Auckland on September 12th, 1981. On that historic day, a mysterious plane was flying and circling extremely low above the field while the rugby game was happening. First, pamphlets describing how unethical apartheid was were released from the plane, landing on the field, the crowd, and the streets. The plane also dropped flares which roused the players as well as the relentless crowd. Then, flour bombs descended from the sky and exploded on the field, all while the teams were still playing. One flour bomb even hit Gary Knight, a team member of the New Zealand All Blacks! These random, dodgy flour bombs constantly falling onto the field caused the game to terminate.
ReplyDeleteThe affects of that extreme match in September included the All Blacks canceling its tour scheduled in South Africa. The South African Springboks were also unable to compete in the Olympics of 1964.
What happened in 1981? In 1981 the South African nation rugby union team, known as the “Springboks” went on a tour to New Zealand. Because of South Africa’s policy of racial segregation there was lots of protest in New Zealand against the apartheid. Because of the apartheid many countries refused to have anything to do with South Africa, international companies such as McDonalds pulled of South Africa because they did not want to be associated with them. Most of New Zealand protested th e coming of the Springboks but since rugby was such an important sport in New Zealand they tried to look past politics and allow themselves to go up against one of the best teams to decide who is the best. Even though the current Prime Minister, Robert Muldoon, was being pressured by the activists for the New Zealand government to cancel the tout he allowed the South African team to play a game against the New Zealand team, the team arrived on July 19 1981. Although Muldoon had said in 1977 "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 organizations, teams or sportsmen from South Africa or from any other country where sports are organized on the basis of race, color or ethnic origin." he argued that "politics should stay out of sport." It is believed that Muldoon did this so that he could unsure the votes of “rural and provincial conservatives”. During the tour two of the matches were cancelled due to the protest, the country was in outrage because of the “racist white supremacist” South African rugby team. The stadium was surrounded in protesters and rioters, the police had trouble holding back the protesters and occasionally they actually got through and interrupted the game. After this incident the Springboks were not allowed back until Mandela was freed and stopped the apartheid.
ReplyDeleteIn 1981, the two most competitive rugby teams, the South Africa Springboks and the New Zealand All Blacks, met in the South Africa rugby union tour of New Zealand, better known as the Springbok tour. This tour was extremely controversial due to the pressure put on the Apartheid by the international community. In New Zealand, Some just wanted to see good rugby and leave politics out of it; but a lot of New Zealanders were displeasured by the government’s decision by letting a country with horrid racism issue enter their country and play rugby with the All Blacks.
ReplyDeleteHowever, the South Africa Springboks arrived in New Zealand and was preparing for playing their first game with the Poverty Bay. During the first game, a large amount of New Zealander protestors were protesting in the streets outside the stadium. At the second game against the Waikato, riot protestors broke though the fence; worse than the crowd, it was reported that a stolen small plane was approaching the stadium. The game against the Waikato was cancelled. The situation did not get better for the following games; protestors in the street was taken control with violent by the police.
The South Africa Springboks played the New Zealand All Blacks three times in the tour. The most famous game was the final test on September 12th (3rd time against the All Blacks); the game was interrupted by smoke bombs and flour-bombs. During the game, a light weight airplane circled over the stadium. The plane dropped flour-bombs on the field; the game was still in the play after the flour-bombing. But after the flour-bombs, the plane started to drop smoke bombs on the field, which made a huge chaos in the crowd. One of the flour-bombs actually hit directly at one of the All Blacks players named Gary Knight. The plane pilot Marx Jones was arrested and spent 6 months in prison from his bombing action.
After the tour, the South Africa Springboks were banned from playing any other countries, showing the international community is putting pressure on Apartheid. The All Blacks did not and cannot make a tour to South Africa until the Apartheid was ended in 1994.
South African rugby team Springbok embarked on a historic tour of New Zealand in 1981. Historic, not for the rugby games played, but the circumstances under which they played. The system of apartheid in South Africa was vehemently hated by many New Zealanders and the proposed tour of New Zealand sent opponents of apartheid into a flurry of protest. People said it would be construed as an acceptance and condonation of apartheid by New Zealand’s government. Feathers were ruffled to say the least. However, it paled in comparison of what was to come.
ReplyDeleteNot all people, though, were opposed to the tour. Since New Zealand and South Africa were the rugby champions of the world, competitions between the two countries were not just accepted by some but actively awaited with enthusiasm. Rugby fans wanted to see their country’s best do battle (through rugby) with the cream of South Africa’s crop. For some people the tour was about sports and sports only, with politics a side issue to be dealt with as such.
Whatever feelings may have been in play before the tour began erupted at the actual arrival of the Springboks in New Zealand. The usually peaceful country was drowned in chaos and civil strife as protesters choked the stadiums visited by the Springboks. Two of the sixteen matches were cancelled because of the violence that reigned over the streets and stadiums. Protesters spread broken glass on the field to try to stop one game. The last test, however, was the height of chaos. Riots broke out outside the stadium as police were pelted with stones and other missiles. Flares and flour bombs dropped out of an airplane that flew low above the field. One flour bomb hit a player, but he suffered no lasting injuries. As a result of global reactions to the violence of the 1881 tour and South Africa’s continuing support of apartheid, South Africa was banned from sporting competitions across the globe and did not tour again in New Zealand until apartheid had ended.
In 1981, New Zealand was joined together by the national rugby union team of South Africa, known has “the Springboks”. Controversy sparked drastically throughout New Zealand due to the South African government’s harsh policy of racial segregation. Apartheid, South Africa’s policy made the nation an international pariah. Many other countries were discouraged from having sporting contacts with it.
ReplyDeleteThe rugby union was, and still is a very popular sport in New Zealand, and the Springboks were New Zealand’s most terrifying opponents. Of course, there was a major split in opinions of the New Zealand people, who wondered if politics should interfere with the sport, and whether or not the Springboks should even be allowed to tour.
Many New Zealand people tried to end the tour. The pressure from other African countries and the protest groups in New Zealand, for example, HART, reached extreme anger when the New Zealand Rugby Union proposed a 1981 Springbok tour. It became such a controversy, that the Australian Prime Minister, Malcolm Fraser, refused to allow Springbok’s aircraft to refuel on Australian territory on their was to New Zealand.
During the final test match, a low flying plane dropped flour bombs, and papers talking about apartheid. Luckily, there was no harm of the players, but the game was ended. After everything had happened, the NZRFU proposed an All Black tour of South Africa. Two lawyers sued the NZRFU, and the high court stopped the all black tour of South Africa.
Unfortunately, this was not the end of any kinds of boycotts involving South Arica and apartheid. South Africa was not allowed to part take in the 1964 Olympics. After the cease of Apartheid, South Africa won the Rugby World Cup.
The South African Springboks and the New Zealand All Blacks have been sporting rivals for decades. It was all in good fun until apartheid began playing a role in the sport. When the All Blacks would tour South Africa, they would often choose to leave their Māori players, the indigenous people of New Zealand, behind because of apartheid laws in South Africa. Opposition to this racial discrimination grew in New Zealand and in 1969 HART, Halt All Racist Tours, was formed.In 1981, the Springboks were invited to tour New Zealand by the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU). Many anti-apartheid activists were strongly against this tour from taking place and put pressure on the NZRU and the government to cancel the tour. Their wishes were not granted, with the government saying “politics should stay out of sport.”
ReplyDeleteThough there were many against the tour, most New Zealanders just wanted to see a good match, and hopefully see their team, the All Blacks, win. However, the day of the second match in Hamilton, about 350 protesters tore down a fence and stormed the pitch, playing field. Police cancelled the match, making rugby fans furious at the protesters. Some gangs of rugby fans even waited outside the police station to assault arrested protesters. At the final match in Auckland, a small plane piloted by Marx Jones and Grant Cole dropped flour-bombs on the pitch in hopes of disrupting the game enough to get it cancelled. However, the game continued and the Springboks completed their tour. This tour led to South Africa and New Zealand not competing again until the 1990’s when apartheid had ended. Also, South Africa was banned from competing in any sport internationally until apartheid had ended.
South Africa was undergoing massive social turmoil, or apartheid in 1981 when their rugby team, the “Springboks”, was admitted to go on tour in New Zealand. South Africa’s political policies sparked a huge debate in New Zealand and many people protested the rugby tour. In the early 80’s, South African racial intolerance had garnered a great deal of the world’s attention and discontent. The fact that new Zealand even allowed the tour in the first place caused a mass uproar in the populace against the decision. Many people thought that it was a political move by New Zealand’s leadership to garner votes, other simply thought they were trying to separate politics from sport. Whatever the reason, social discontent came to a head with the arrival of the Springboks into New Zealand.
ReplyDeleteWith a growing “non-violent” protest group rapidly gathering support in hopes of ultimately halting the tour, New Zealand police created two unique riot squads for the sole purpose of fending off protesters during the games. This move further agitated the strikers. The first instance of moderate success for the rioters was on July 25th, when tensions between the crowd and rioters threatened to halt the game. Luckily, a hijacked plane aimed at the rugby stadium finally stopped the game before all hell could break lose.
A following succession of confusion escalated into the final match at Auckland. Though the game proceeded accordingly, a plane bombarded the field with flour bags along with the standard rioting and pickets.
New Zealand endured one of the biggest protests in its history. Over 160,000 people protested against the Springboks tour making it a record making event. It brought even more international light and criticism upon South Africa and its apartheid as well as New Zealand.