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Home / New Zealand

'I was against the tour but I never told anyone'

By Nicola Shepheard
Herald on Sunday·
20 Jun, 2009 04:00 PM2 mins to read

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Photo / Paul Estcourt

Photo / Paul Estcourt

We scour the archives for images that capture a moment in time and place, and bring you the story behind them. First up, Herald photographer Paul Estcourt captured this vivid memory of the 1981 Springbok Tour.

It was the day of the first rugby test in Christchurch. Robin Woodsford, 32, and his friend Mark MacIntyre were among 200 protesters who had broken away from the main march, sprinting down the railway line towards the back end of Lancaster Park.

"Mark and I were pretty fit so
leapt over the fence and ran into the squad as they came round the corner, so there was a bit of biff bang as Mark and I ran into them," Woodsford says.

"It was very clear instantly in my mind, don't mess with this lot - and I woke up against the fence. You can see the scuffle marks in the dirt and the broken fence paling.

"Heart in the mouth, pounding in chest, and there they were in a skirmish line ... I will never forget the guy with the baton pointing at me, saying 'stay there c**t or I'll do you'."

Woodsford recalls his relief at seeing a photographer - Paul Estcourt from the New Zealand Herald - as he knew that he wouldn't then "get done".

Estcourt, too, remembers the moment vividly.

"You can't tell from the picture but there's blood all over his face," the photographer says. "It looks surreal. The bloke's sitting there, all the cops are lined up in front of him ... It doesn't look like New Zealand.

"It was a real 'them and us' thing between the cops and the protesters. The cops had the Red Squad and the Blue Squad. The squad members were really hard buggers."

Estcourt adds: "I was against the tour but I never told anyone. I had a friend who I told just after and he was most amazed because I was such a strong rugby supporter."

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