Winter of Discontent

1981 was the year that South Africa’s national rugby team – the Springboks – accepted an invitation from the NZ Rugby Football Union to tour New Zealand to play rugby against a number of provincial sides as well as a four test series against our national team – the All Blacks. The Springbok Tour took place in the midst of an ideologically divided country and became a flashpoint for civil disruption on a scale never before witnessed in New Zealand. This book is a personal account (largely from a protester’s viewpoint) of how one city, Dunedin – a South Island university town with a population of around 125,000 – responded in its opposition to the 1981 Springbok tour.

1981 was the year that South Africa’s national rugby team – the Springboks – accepted an invitation from the NZ Rugby Football Union to tour New Zealand to play rugby against a number of provincial sides as well as a four test series against our national team – the All Blacks. The Springbok Tour took place in the midst of an ideologically divided country and became a flashpoint for civil disruption on a scale never before witnessed in New Zealand. This book is a personal account (largely from a protester’s viewpoint) of how one city, Dunedin – a South Island university town with a population of around 125,000 – responded in its opposition to the 1981 Springbok tour.

Tony Eyre, originally from Auckland New Zealand, has lived in Dunedin since 1978. His interest is creative non-fiction, essays and feature writing. He is a regular contributor to the Otago Daily Times and writes for the occasional magazine