The 1981 Springbok Tour of New Zealand

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Something as trivial as a rugby tour causing such a massive uproar may baffle those who are unaware of the policies South Africa had at the time. Shortly after World War Two’s conclusion, South Africa established a system they called apartheid, which discriminated against the large population of non-whites in their country, and greatly reduced their human rights. The actions taken by the protestors during the tour was an attempt to show their staunch opposition of South Africa’s racist discrimination of its indigenous people, and was intensified by the frustrations that the apartheid policies had created between New Zealand and South Africa over the years since the latter had adopted it. From the 1940’s through to the 1960’s, apartheid polices had an unfortunate impact on team selection for the All Blacks. Due to South Africa’s apartheid policies selectors had, in the past passed over Maori players for some All Black tours to South Africa. This unfair selection, in 1960, prior to the All Blacks touring South Africa, caused over 150 000 New Zealanders to sign a petition supporting a policy of “No Maoris, No tour”. However, the tour had gone ahead, and in 1969 a group called HART (Halt All Racist Tours), lead by John Minto, was formed. Because of the Springboks players being selected on race, the Labour government in 1973 prevented the Springboks from touring New Zealand. This caused the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) to protest against the involvement of politics in sport. In 1976 the All Blacks were allowed to tour South Africa, a decision made by the newly elected Prime Minister, Robert Muldoon. This tour received widespread disapproval from the rest of Africa. Twenty-five African nations showed their condemnation by boycotting the 1976 Summer Olympics. They felt that by touring South Africa, New Zealand was showing support for the apartheid regime. The 1976
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