Flour bomb test recalled
AS THE All Blacks and Springboks prepare to meet in Christchurch tomorrow, this week also marks the 35th anniversary of the most bizarre clash between the old rivals, the flour bomb test of 1981.
During the match, an antiapartheid protester in a light plane buzzed Auckland’s Eden Park, dropping flour-filled bags on players and spectators.
The teams agreed to proceed with the match – despite All Blacks prop Gary Knight being felled by a projectile, and violent clashes between police and demonstrators outside the ground, which featured Wynand Claassen’s Springbok team.
John Minto, a protest organiser, said of the aerial escapade: “We caught them completely offguard.
“The police knew we [would] turn out in numbers at Eden Park and had turned the streets around into a fortress.
“But when the plane came over there was nothing they could do.
“Watching on the ground we were elated. It was so dramatic and inspiring.”
The context for the stunt was the most bitterly divisive rugby tour in New Zealand’s history.
The conservative government and the New Zealand Rugby Football Union were determined the tour would proceed, arguing that politics and sport should not mix.
Many Kiwis disagreed passionately. Even All Blacks captain Graham Mourie made himself unavailable for selection.
He received hate mail over his decision and said his own family regarded him as an idiot.
The divisions were even more stark on New Zealand’s streets.
A match against Waikato in Hamilton had to be cancelled after demonstrators invaded the pitch, prompting anti-riot police to adopt brutal tactics.
They staged baton charges on crowds outside parliament in Wellington.
In response, protesters put on motorbike helmets and makeshift body armour, arming themselves with clubs and bats.
Minto said: “I’ve no doubt that if the tour had gone on for a week or two longer, we would have seen people killed.”
For the Eden Park test on September 12, more than 2 100 police – 40% of the national force – were deployed in Auckland.
New Zealand prevailed 25-22 to take the test series 2-1.
Off the field, 67 protesters were taken to hospital, hundreds more faced charges and Marx Jones, who flew the flour-bomb mission, was jailed for six months.
“We lost the battle – the game went ahead,” Minto said.
“But we won the war because the Springboks didn’t play another major rugby-playing nation until 1992.”