The Gleneagles Agreement
One of the leading key causes of the Springbok tour was The Gleneagles Agreement. New Zealand had signed The Gleneagles Agreement with other countries around the world. It stated that any country that signed the agreement would not participate in any sporting activities with South Africa until the apartheid was abolished. The government allowed the Springbok to come and play stating "no politics in sports" but many New Zealander's disagreed and organised protests to show their disapproval. My opinion on what happened during the Springbok Tour is that the protestors had a really good reason for what they were doing.
Despite Gleneagles, Robert Muldoon made it clear that the government would not allow political interference in sport. On September 1980, the NZRFU took this as a sign and invited the South Africans to tour the following year. The deputy prime minister, Brian Talboys wrote to Ces Blazey, the NZRFU chairman, expressing concern that a tour was even being considered. He was concerned that such contact would be seen as overlooking apartheid and would affect ‘how New Zealand is judged in the international arena’.
Robert Muldoon said that he could see ‘nothing but trouble coming from this’, but when he was confronted with the choice of cancelling the tour, he spoke of ‘our kith and kin’ in South Africa and the fact that New Zealanders and South Africans had
served side by side in the Second World War. He repeated his word that New Zealand was a free and democratic country and that ‘politics should stay out of sport’.
Historian Jock Phillips explains Muldoon’s attitude by considering the values of men of his generation. They had grown up in depression and war. They believed strongly in the British Empire and the role of New Zealand men in armed conflict, and rugby was central to this culture. Its importance on physical strength and teamwork made it the perfect training for war.
One of the leading key causes of the Springbok tour was The Gleneagles Agreement. New Zealand had signed The Gleneagles Agreement with other countries around the world. It stated that any country that signed the agreement would not participate in any sporting activities with South Africa until the apartheid was abolished. The government allowed the Springbok to come and play stating "no politics in sports" but many New Zealander's disagreed and organised protests to show their disapproval. My opinion on what happened during the Springbok Tour is that the protestors had a really good reason for what they were doing.
Despite Gleneagles, Robert Muldoon made it clear that the government would not allow political interference in sport. On September 1980, the NZRFU took this as a sign and invited the South Africans to tour the following year. The deputy prime minister, Brian Talboys wrote to Ces Blazey, the NZRFU chairman, expressing concern that a tour was even being considered. He was concerned that such contact would be seen as overlooking apartheid and would affect ‘how New Zealand is judged in the international arena’.
Robert Muldoon said that he could see ‘nothing but trouble coming from this’, but when he was confronted with the choice of cancelling the tour, he spoke of ‘our kith and kin’ in South Africa and the fact that New Zealanders and South Africans had
served side by side in the Second World War. He repeated his word that New Zealand was a free and democratic country and that ‘politics should stay out of sport’.
Historian Jock Phillips explains Muldoon’s attitude by considering the values of men of his generation. They had grown up in depression and war. They believed strongly in the British Empire and the role of New Zealand men in armed conflict, and rugby was central to this culture. Its importance on physical strength and teamwork made it the perfect training for war.