1981 - A Country at War

It was like trench warfare; I suddenly realised that everything had changed...

– Journalist Bill Ralston on witnessing the first Springbok match in 1981

There were groups of people just absolutely laying into one another...

– Pro-tour supporter David Sparks remembers the infamous Hamilton match

There was one pro-tour social worker who didn't want anything to do with me...

– Hone Ngata talks about how the tour divided workplaces

It was a moment of growing up, of realising we weren't some quiet, little egalitarian country down the bottom of the world, full of peace and goodwill ... the surface was scratched and there was great ugliness underneath.

– Anti-tour supporter Joan-Mary Heffernan

The tour split families; it split friends. It was unbelievable how it affected people – it is very hard to explain that to a young person now.

– Former rugby administrator Ray Harper talks to The Southland Times in 2011