The Grassroots of the 1981 Springbok Tour
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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 Melissa A. Morrison In fulfilment of the degree of Master of Arts in History Department of History, University of Canterbury Supervisors: Katie Pickles and Lyndon Fraser 2017 Table of Contents List of Illustrations ....................................................................................................................... 1 Acknowledgements...................................................................................................................... 2 Abstract ....................................................................................................................................... 4 Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 5 Historiography .................................................................................................................................... 7 Methodology ..................................................................................................................................... 13 Chapter One: From where it all began, 1919 to 1981 ................................................................... 26 Where did it all begin? ...................................................................................................................... 26 The New Zealand Army Team Tours South Africa ............................................................................ 28 All Blacks versus Springboks 1921 .................................................................................................... 30 1928 All Blacks in South Africa .......................................................................................................... 34 1937 Springbok Tour of New Zealand ............................................................................................... 37 1949 – Sir Howard Kippenberger makes his feelings clear ............................................................... 39 Success for the All Blacks in 1956 ..................................................................................................... 42 1960 – ‘No Māoris, No Tour’ ............................................................................................................. 43 1965 and Verwoerd’s Loskop Dam Speech ....................................................................................... 46 The First Fully Representative All Black Team Tours South Africa .................................................... 48 To Build Bridges or Intervene? .......................................................................................................... 51 The Cancelled Tour ........................................................................................................................... 53 The Final Tour Before 1981 ............................................................................................................... 54 The lead up to 1981 .......................................................................................................................... 56 The Gleneagles Agreement ........................................................................................................... 57 The Invitation ................................................................................................................................ 60 Chapter Two: Day One – To oppose or support the Tour? ............................................................ 66 Protesters and Supporters within the existing historiography ......................................................... 67 Age ................................................................................................................................................ 68 Gender .......................................................................................................................................... 71 Ethnicity ........................................................................................................................................ 73 Urban versus rural thinking........................................................................................................... 82 Why New Zealanders opposed the Tour? ......................................................................................... 86 Apartheid ...................................................................................................................................... 86 Secondary concerns for anti-apartheid demonstrators ............................................................... 91 Why did New Zealanders support the Tour? .................................................................................... 96 For the enjoyment of the game .................................................................................................... 96 Rugby and Politics ....................................................................................................................... 100 ‘They picked on my sport’ ........................................................................................................... 102 Chapter Three: Day 28 – The myth of protester violence ........................................................... 105 Public Perception, the Media, and the Myth of Protester Violence ............................................... 105 Anti-apartheid organisations and the policy of non-violence ........................................................ 108 HART’s Protest Tactics .................................................................................................................... 112 A change in tactics?......................................................................................................................... 122 August 15 – the First Test Match .................................................................................................... 128 Chapter Four: Day 28 – The question of police brutality ............................................................ 139 Public Perception and the Myth of Police Brutality ........................................................................ 140 ‘I will see and cause Her Majesty’s peace to be kept and preserved’ ............................................ 148 The Police on Game Day ................................................................................................................. 151 The impact of the Tour on police personnel ................................................................................... 158 Chapter Five: Day 57 – The impact and aftermath of the Tour ................................................... 165 Was New Zealand a divided nation? ............................................................................................... 166 A loss of innocence or a loss of ignorance? .................................................................................... 176 Regaining a sense of normality ....................................................................................................... 186 Apartheid and South Africa ............................................................................................................. 196 The value of hindsight ..................................................................................................................... 198 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 202 Appendix A: Questionnaire ...................................................................................................... 208 Appendix B: Topics/Questions used in Oral History Interviews .................................................. 211 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................ 216 Primary Sources .............................................................................................................................. 216 Secondary sources .......................................................................................................................... 224 1 List of Illustrations Figure 1. A ticket for the first test match of the 1981 Springbok Rugby Tour of New Zealand, which was held at Lancaster Park in Christchurch. ......................................................................................... 25 Figure 2. Photograph taken by Kapil Arn which shows that protesters came from a large cross-section of New Zealand society. ........................................................................................................................ 95 Figure 3. Photograph taken by Allan Cumming of protest marshals forming a barrier between police and demonstrators in Dunedin on 11 August 1981. Brent Burnett-Jones (forefront of photograph) is wearing his motorcycle helmet, gloves, and shoulder pads for protection. ...................................... 128 Figure 4. Cartoon by Eric Heath illustrating the apparently divisive nature of the Tour on New Zealand society. .................................................................................................................................. 168 2 Acknowledgements First of all, I would like to thank my supervisors, Katie Pickles and Lyndon Fraser, for their help and guidance throughout this project.