Inside the 1981 Springbok tour

Thirty years after the 1981 Springbok rugby tour, Police have given the Listener access to previously classified documents.

By Redmer Yska In Commentary

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9th July, 2011

[gallery link="file"] Looking back, the violence of a secret police training session was an indication of what was to come. It was June 1981. Six weeks before the arrival of the Springbok rugby team, elite riot police drilled at Papakura Army Base. They faced off against 70 chanting soldiers who were stand-in protesters. According to a trove of long-restricted police files released to the Listener, three police required medical treatment for injuries after the training drill. One broke a bone in his hand, grazing his arms and legs so badly he was off duty for a week; another, at ...

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