Violence flared throughout a divided New Zealand during the 1981 Springbok tour. Forty years on, Neil Reid reveals more bloodshed would have occurred if a plan to fire nails during the final test into Eden Park had gone ahead
Hone Harawira saw a lot of crazy things during the Springbok tour which pitted New Zealanders so violently against each other in the winter of 1981.
But none left the future MP as concerned as a homemade industrial crossbow which a fellow-protester planned to use to pepper Eden Park with an array of projectiles – including cans full of nails – during the final test of the series.
The contraption – which used heavy duty steel springs cut from a car's suspension – was to be set up on a property overlooking the sporting ground.
Its creator had successfully fired the contraption – which was too large to be held and had to be set up on a flat surface - during several secret trials deep in the Waitakere Ranges.
Harawira – who protested throughout the tour, including being co-leader of Patu Squad - was introduced to the man in the lead-up to the third test between the Springboks and All Blacks by another veteran activist.
"He had a plan of going and staying in one of the houses next to Eden Park and firing s*** into Eden Park from outside of the ground," Harawira said.
"He had been up in the Waitakeres practising, getting his aim right and his elevation right. He was convinced he could do it. He was just going to fire s*** into the ground. He could have killed someone."
Harawira was not afraid of standing up physically against pro-tour supporters and police during the tour. That includes being one of the leaders of Patu Squad – whose membership included gang members - which violently clashed with police around Eden Park on the day of the final test.
But even he was left horrified at what the creator of the contraption was proposing.
"In the end I said to [the high-profile protester], 'Mate, if you ask me do you want him to be part of my crew, the answer is no'," Harawira said.
"That sort of s*** could have gone horribly wrong . . . it was crazy'."
When the Wynand Claassen-captained tourists arrived in New Zealand on July 19, 1981, they became the first South African national rugby team to tour here for 16 years. By that stage, following the growing global backlash against apartheid, most other tier-one rugby nations either had or were in the process of cutting ties with the Springboks.
The Boks' previous scheduled tour of New Zealand in 1973 had been cancelled after then Prime Minister Norman Kirk stepped in, having earlier said if the tour went ahead it would result in the "greatest eruption of violence this country has ever known".
While that warning was heeded, eight years later Prime Minister Robert Muldoon refused to follow suit; setting the scene for 56 of the most violent, and divisive, days in our history.
The path to boiling point
Blood was spilled throughout the nation in the winter of 1981; including horror scenes after the pitch invasion which led to the cancellation of the tourists' clash against Waikato, and just days later wild clashes between police and protesters in Wellington's Molesworth St.
Members of the protest movement highlighted how determined they were to disrupt the rugby in Gisborne on the first match day of the tour; marching en masse across the Gisborne Park Golf Club on July 22 and trying to gain entrance to the neighbouring Rugby Park.
Their efforts were thwarted by police, rugby fans and security who forced the protesters back.
Three days later and rugby fans at Hamilton's Rugby Park – and millions of live TV viewers in South Africa – watched on in shock and anger as hundreds of protesters tore through a wire fence and gained access to the playing field.
Among those trying to maintain law and order was the police's newly-formed Red Squad.
The invasion and fears that a stolen plane piloted by a former WWII pilot would crash into the ground led to the match's cancellation.
But for many protesters, their joy at stopping the rugby was to be replaced by physical pain. Some were struck in the head by full cans of beer hurled at them by rugby fans, before being set upon violently in the streets outside Rugby Park.
"A lot of people got severely smashed up, bleeding and ended up in hospital," Harawira recalled.
Halt All Racist Tours (HART) leader John Minto was among them. First he was knocked out after being struck by a full can of beer, then assaulted as he was being led to an ambulance after taking refuge in a pensioner's house.
"Walking that gauntlet [out of the venue] people were being punched, women were bashed . . . it was pretty horrendous," he said.
Minto had to make a second visit to hospital later that night after he, along with 11 other protesters, was brutally bashed during a home invasion by two rugby fans at a property HART was using as its base in Hamilton.
The wild violence continued throughout the night, as people with anti-tour stickers on their cars were pulled from their vehicles at traffic lights and assaulted.
What happened in Hamilton was a sign of things to come.
The growth of opposition to the tour and anger towards protesters from sections of the rugby community grew, combined with a strong resolve from police who were left with a sense of "humiliation" after Hamilton.
"The 'defeat' of police by the protesters at Rugby Park did have an effect on most police and on me," Red Squad second in command Ross Meurant said.
"Whereas until that day I didn't give a damn, that event galvanised me to demand an opportunity to restore one's pride in an outfit [the police] which at that stage of my career I still had pride in."
Four days later more blood was spilled in Wellington during "the Battle of Molesworth St" as police broke up a 2000-strong anti-tour protest.
Forty years on, Minto said: "I think that was the police regrouping and [Police Commissioner Bob] Walton saying 'We are not going soft'."
Tensions increased in the South Island when the Boks headed there in early August.
The historic grandstand at Christchurch's Rugby Park was burnt down in an arson attack after the Springboks held a training session there.
More violent clashes erupted on the day of the first test against the All Blacks at Lancaster Park on August 15.
Patched-up Mongrel Mob members were given tickets to the first test of the series at Lancaster Park so they could lead planned pitch invasions. Police ultimately refused them entry to the ground.
Then a scheduled clash against South Canterbury in Timaru was cancelled, with rugby officials and police saying it was due to "security fears".
Wellington was the location for more wild scenes on August 29 when the All Blacks played the Springboks in the second test.
Meurant recalled that police were confronted by about 1000 "hard core" protesters, including gang members, who were "increasingly kitted out with motorcycle helmets, padded clothing, wooden shields and offensive weapons such as baseball bats and incendiary devices".
"The ensuing clash saw many protesters bloodied and beaten with PR 24 batons by the riot gear-equipped Red Squad."
But no day was as violent as what occurred around Eden Park on September 12, 1981.
"The last day to strike a blow"
Feeling wounded both by the violence some had suffered at the hands of rugby fans and police, and the fact the tour had continued, the protest movement was determined to make a statement that would make headlines around the world.
The fact that match had been scheduled for the fourth anniversary of anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko's fatal bashing by police in a Port Elizabeth cell pushed emotions to boiling point.
One of the protest groups was dubbed "Biko Group".
Fowlds Park, Mt Albert, was one of the main gathering points for protesters, who were set to march the 1km distance to Eden Park.
One of the first things on Harawira's agenda was finding recruits for Patu Squad. It was regarded by police as one of the most "hard core" of protest groups.
"It was the last day to strike a blow against apartheid and strike a blow in the fight against racism in this country on that particular day," he said.
"If I saw a healthy-looking Polynesian, Maori or someone else of Pasifika extraction, I would say, 'Boys . . . you will see some fellas holding up a sign saying Patu on it, go over there'."
The presence of members of rival gangs in the protest unit itself had the potential to be explosive.
"We had to deal with all kinds of gang issues," Harawira said.
"We had Blacks [Black Power], Storm Troopers, the Mongrel Mob, the NIGS, the King Cobras.
"I dragged in another guy and me and him got everyone into lines and then sat back and made sure the Blacks weren't standing directly behind the Mongrel Mob so they couldn't smash [each other]."
When Welsh ref Clive Norling blew time on in the third test, 49,000 rugby fans were crammed into Eden Park.
Minto said the exterior of the venue resembled a "medieval fortress" due to security measures to keep protesters out, including freight containers around the venue's exterior and swathes of barbed wire.
Outside, hell was breaking loose – especially on Onslow Rd – as protesters and police carried out repeated charges at each other.
Harawira was arrested early on during the clashes, saying he had been "absolutely smashed" by a police officer.
"I had my full-face helmet on and I am glad I did," he said.
"I can remember the smash on my helmet as I was lying on the ground. I looked up and saw this PR24 coming down . . . He was kicking the s*** out of me. He was like a f****** rabid dog."
Protesters left with physical and mental scars included those involved in the "Clowns Incident".
Two men and one woman dressed as clowns – and protesting peacefully on Dominion Rd – were brutally assaulted by police. Despite an investigation, no officers were identified.
The three clowns later sued New Zealand Police for exemplary damages, with each being awarded a $10,000 payout.
Given the fact a hard core of the protest movement had armed themselves with items such as cricket bats, lengths of wood and fence palings ripped from fences, scores of police were also viciously assaulted.
Injuries suffered by police around Eden Park included broken legs, arms, collar bones, a pelvis and ruptured eardrums.
'People would have started dying'
The Springboks flew out of New Zealand the day after their 25-22 loss to the All Blacks.
When they boarded the plane – this time with a more peaceful protest at Auckland International Airport - those who witnessed the previous day's violence around Eden Park first-hand and on later TV reports were still in shock at the scenes.
Even 40 years on, the footage leaves many Kiwis staggered that such brutality could occur on New Zealand suburban streets.
And both Harawira and Minto said given the ferocity of what happened on September 12, the protests would have turned fatal if the tour had continued any longer.
Harawira recalled one chilling conversation, understood to have been with a police officer involved, who told him: "If the tour [had] gone on for another couple of weeks, people would have started dying."
Meurant said the events around Eden Park highlighted how the "hardcore of the protest movement... had grown in size and determination". He also said there was little doubt that the "Red Squad did overreact at some point".
But he wouldn't be drawn if he felt the escalation in violence would have led to fatal consequences if the tour continued.
Minto said deaths would have been a sad eventuality, adding one protester suffered life-threatening injuries outside Eden Park.
"One guy had his eye socket smashed, had massive internal bleeding and could have died that night.
"If it had gone on another week it was quite likely that we could have seen people getting killed. It was obvious tensions would boil over. And they did in various places, but [especially] on Onslow Rd on the day of the last game."
The vehicle was damaged while later being towed and an $11k claim by the owner followed.