A recipe for DISASTER
Rugby relations between the All Blacks and the Springboks, the respective national teams of New Zealand and South Africa, stem back to 1921 when the first official tour and match between the two nations took place, with the tour climaxing with a nil all draw resulting in a tie in the series, thus set the stage for many years to come with the rivalry between these nations only escalating further. Prior to the 1981 tour New Zealand and South Africa have both toured each other nine times, each more controversial than the former.
Key ideas
The presence of Apartheid in South Africa can be attributed as one of the more significant causes to the protest action of the 1981 Springbok tour of New Zealand as many of the protest groups involved were publicly against apartheid and had it as their main cause, even after the tour pursuing equality and the abolishment of Apartheid in South Africa. The introduction of the Gleneagles agreement just four years prior to the tour also led to widespread controversy as it was directly in defiance to rules that New Zealand had agreed to in 1977. The tours leading up to the 1981 tour including the 1960, 1970 and the cancelled 1967 tour all lead to the escalating tensions in New Zealand regarding this extremely delicate subject, as it polarised the nation and caused the largest civil unrest seen since the 1951 Waterfront Dispute. All key events lead to the climax of the conflict, which was the 1981 Springbok tour of New Zealand.