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 visit of the South African rugby team – the Springboks.
Since rugby went professional in 1995 countries like Australia, England and France have challenged New Zealand and South Africa's claims to be the two powerhouses of world rugby.
Keeping sport and politics separate was becoming increasingly difficult. In July 1969 HART (Halt All Racist Tours) was founded by University of Auckland students with the specific aim of opposing sporting contact with South Africa.
The tour supporters were determined that the first Springbok visit to New Zealand since 1965 would not be spoiled. The anti-tour movement was equally determined to show its opposition to it.
In Hamilton the protestors occupying the pitch had chanted 'The whole world is watching'. The same applied to New Zealand as a nation. Some believed the tour was an opportunity to address racism in New Zealand and show solidarity with the oppressed black majority in South Africa.
This scene shows action from the second test of the 1956 series at Athletic Park. The Springboks won 8–3 but the All Blacks prevailed in the series 3-1.
In this Nevile Lodge cartoon, which appeared in the Evening Post in 1973, the new prime minister, Norman Kirk, and his deputy, Hugh Watt, are discussing the problems the new Labour government faces.
A feature of the 1981 tour was the number of organisations, both pro- and anti-tour, that competed for the support of New Zealanders. During the tour many New Zealanders literally wore their 'HART' (Halt All Racist Tours) on their sleeves in the form of badges promoting their stance on the tour.
The parties to the Gleneagles Agreement agreed to discourage and not to support contact or competition with sporting organisations, teams or sportsmen from South Africa or any other country where sports were organised on the basis of race, colour or ethnic origin.
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 trade unions and student bodies, including school-age children, as shown here.
This Eric Heath cartoon, which appeared in the Dominion in September 1981, illustrated how the nation divided into two distinct camps regarding the tour.
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.
‘Bad enough having play team officially designated New Zealand Natives’, a South African journalist wrote in a report of the match played between the Springboks and a New Zealand Maori XV at Napier.
