The protest action began right from the arrival of the Springboks in New Zealand, with many demonstrators showing up at the airport to express defiance towards the tour going ahead. Many Maori were appalled to hear one of the first greetings the springbok received was from a marae Maori protestor; Mereana Pitman expressed her disgust at this in an interview where she stated:
“We were horrified that the first welcome they would receive was from a marae, from our people, and from the people we were related to, so it was a matter of great shame to us.”
The first game the Springboks played was against Poverty Bay in Gisborne on the 22nd of July, the Springboks may have won the game, but the protest action from both the pro and anti-tour activists showed the significance the tour had on every day New Zealanders highlighted.
On the 25th of July the most recognised confrontation between the pro and anti-tour sides happened at Rugby Park, where a match scheduled against Waikato was eventually called off in front of a full house. Around 350 protestors invaded the pitch in Hamilton, and linked arms to form a solid block against police. The Police arrested 50 protestors the ruby crowd became restless and began throwing objects such as bottles and cans at the protestors, when rumours spread of a plane having being stolen from Taupo and on its way toward Hamilton the police realized that they no longer had control of the situation, and cancelled the game for security reasons.
Throughout the period of the three tests against the All Blacks in Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland there was much protest around the venues and the rest of New Zealand, as well as a show of force by the police unseen in New Zealand since the depression riots.
Over 7000 protestors rallied in Wellington for the second test on the 29th of August. Anti-tour protesters blocked the motorway exits into the city as well as access to the venue. Police had to get involved and through force dragged away many protestors; batons were again used on protestors outside Eden Park in Auckland on the 12th of September. Protestors fought with both police and tour supporters on the streets while a plane and dropped flour bombs and flares onto the field in an attempt to halt the game however the game continued despite Gary Knight being him by a flower bomb.
“We were horrified that the first welcome they would receive was from a marae, from our people, and from the people we were related to, so it was a matter of great shame to us.”
The first game the Springboks played was against Poverty Bay in Gisborne on the 22nd of July, the Springboks may have won the game, but the protest action from both the pro and anti-tour activists showed the significance the tour had on every day New Zealanders highlighted.
On the 25th of July the most recognised confrontation between the pro and anti-tour sides happened at Rugby Park, where a match scheduled against Waikato was eventually called off in front of a full house. Around 350 protestors invaded the pitch in Hamilton, and linked arms to form a solid block against police. The Police arrested 50 protestors the ruby crowd became restless and began throwing objects such as bottles and cans at the protestors, when rumours spread of a plane having being stolen from Taupo and on its way toward Hamilton the police realized that they no longer had control of the situation, and cancelled the game for security reasons.
Throughout the period of the three tests against the All Blacks in Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland there was much protest around the venues and the rest of New Zealand, as well as a show of force by the police unseen in New Zealand since the depression riots.
Over 7000 protestors rallied in Wellington for the second test on the 29th of August. Anti-tour protesters blocked the motorway exits into the city as well as access to the venue. Police had to get involved and through force dragged away many protestors; batons were again used on protestors outside Eden Park in Auckland on the 12th of September. Protestors fought with both police and tour supporters on the streets while a plane and dropped flour bombs and flares onto the field in an attempt to halt the game however the game continued despite Gary Knight being him by a flower bomb.