The Springbok Tour protests of 1981 had a troublesome effect on New Zealand society. The Springbok Tour protests represented the clash of traditional New Zealand rugby culture with a strengthening culture of concern for social and human rights issues. The springbok tour was an opportunity that allowed anti-tour protestors to take heed of a chance to influence events in apartheid South Africa as well as fight a racist tour. The tour and the reactions to the tour prompted a belief that by standing up against what was morally wrong was in the best interest of New Zealand as well as its people. The pro-tour supporters could not understand the desire for some to cause commotion in the well-ordered New Zealand society on what they believed to be an unrelated event.
This split in New Zealand society meant that traditionalists were forced to think about New Zealand in a different light. They were forced to see that there was more to life than rugby and the concept that ‘rugby is always right’ would no longer go unchallenged. After the Springbok tour, New Zealand had a more open-minded society. The Muldoon government was out in the 1984 election, with Labour in with a big majority. Change in New Zealand legislation began to appear in New Zealand, there were anti-nuclear protests that were partly because of the protest New Zealanders experienced in the Springbok tour of 1981. People had come to the realization that New Zealanders could make change in society for good, the long-term success of the tour protests was that through this they had established a cohort which fought against what they saw as unjust and believed that by fighting for what was beneficial for all, not just for some they would improve New Zealand society as well as the world.
This split in New Zealand society meant that traditionalists were forced to think about New Zealand in a different light. They were forced to see that there was more to life than rugby and the concept that ‘rugby is always right’ would no longer go unchallenged. After the Springbok tour, New Zealand had a more open-minded society. The Muldoon government was out in the 1984 election, with Labour in with a big majority. Change in New Zealand legislation began to appear in New Zealand, there were anti-nuclear protests that were partly because of the protest New Zealanders experienced in the Springbok tour of 1981. People had come to the realization that New Zealanders could make change in society for good, the long-term success of the tour protests was that through this they had established a cohort which fought against what they saw as unjust and believed that by fighting for what was beneficial for all, not just for some they would improve New Zealand society as well as the world.