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.
The third and final test would decide the series. Peter Burke, the All Blacks manager later described it as 'a magnificent game' and felt that the All Blacks had a 'job to do for New Zealand rugby and the rugby-loving people of New Zealand'. Once more, off-field events overshadowed the game itself.
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 Auckland University students with the specific aim of opposing sporting contact with South Africa.
The All Blacks accepted an invitation to tour South Africa in 1976, a time when world attention was firmly fixed on the republic because of the Soweto riots.
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 is the official souvenir programme from the third test in the first series played between the Springboks and the All Blacks in 1921. Played at Athletic Park, the score was 0–0 and the series was drawn 1–1.
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.
