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1981 Springbok Tour of New Zealand: Ephemera

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Reference NumberEph-Gp-0099Date1981History / BiographyIn September 1980 the New Zealand Rugby Football Union invited the South African Springbok team to tour New Zealand in 1981. New Zealand, along with other Commonwealth countries, had adopted the Gleneagles agreement in 1977 discouraging sporting contact with South Africa due to its system of racial segregation, known as apartheid, but prime minister Robert Muldoon refused to ban the tour viewing such action as political interference in sport.
From May 1981 co-ordinated mass protests against the tour were held across the country involving groups such as Mobilisation to Stop the Tour (MOST), Coalition to Oppose the Springbok Tour (COST), Citizens Association for Racial Equality (CARE), National Anti-Apartheid Council (NAAC), and Halt All Racist Tours (HART) whose national organiser, John Minto, became a public face for the anti-tour movement.
The Springbok team were welcomed at Te Poho-o-Rawiri Marae, Gisborne, on 19 July 1981. Sixteen games, including three tests against the All Blacks, were planned across the country from 22 July to 12 September. The second game of the tour against Waikato in Hamilton on 25 July was cancelled when several hundred protestors invaded the ground. The game against South Canterbury in Timaru on 19 August was also cancelled due to safety concerns. The Springbok team left New Zealand on 13 September 1981, having won 11 games, lost 2 tests, and drawing one game against the New Zealand Maoris team.
During the tour over 150,000 people took part in over 200 protests across the country, and 1500 were charged with offences arising from these demonstrations. The tour was believed by some individuals, such as John Minto, to have led to an increasing awareness of racism and the position of Māori within New Zealand society.
(From: 'The 1981 Springbok rugby tour', https://nzhistory.govt.nz/culture/1981-springbok-tour, Manatū Taonga - Ministry for Culture and Heritage, updated 4-Feb-2020)
TypePoster

1981 Springbok Tour of New Zealand: Ephemera

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SubjectsSpringbok Tour (1981: New Zealand)Protest movements - New ZealandSouth Africa - Race RelationsRacismRugby Football -- Political aspects -- South AfricaRugby Football -- Political aspects -- New ZealandAnti-apartheid movements -- New Zealand

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1981 Springbok Tour of New Zealand: Ephemera

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