Memories of fateful Springboks match

John Penney remembers well the day the South African rugby team came to Wanganui.
It was 30 years ago this week - August 5, 1981, just a few matches into the Springboks' controversial New Zealand tour which saw violent clashes between rugby fans and protesters throughout the country.
Mr Penney attended that game at Spriggens Park, and still has the "official souvenir programme" which he bought for $1 at the gate.
The Springboks tour divided New Zealand, with rugby fans pitted against protesters, who objected to the South African apartheid system which kept blacks and whites separated.
Mr Penney was then a young family man, living with his Wanganui-born wife Raewyn and their three young children in Auckland.
He was the marketing manager for Caltex New Zealand, which meant he was on the road a lot.
Caltex was synonymous with rugby in those days as the managing director of Caltex New Zealand, Jack Sullivan, was also the president of the New Zealand Rugby Football Union.
"The rugby was really part of what we did, and I didn't mind because I liked rugby," Mr Penney said.
He had already attended several of the Springboks games and when he found himself in Wellington for work, but with a day to spare, he decided to come up to Wanganui for the match.
Mr Penney admitted to have torn feelings about the Springboks tour.
"It really split families. Raewyn, my wife, she didn't like the Springboks coming here.
"I felt it was better to keep communication with South Africa open and eventually there would be change. But the protesters had a right to protest. The violence against them was something that we had never seen before, no one was expecting that."
Mr Penney remembers being in the Rutland Hotel the night before the match and feeling uneasy at the air of tension in the city.
"Some of the rugby fans there were saying all the protesters should be rounded up and shot - that was how bad it was.
"I was uneasy about what was going to happen."
In the end the match took place peacefully, although Mr Penney said there were about 100 protesters, shouting and waving placards.
The protesters were outnumbered by the fans - and the police had a large presence as well.
"The protesters were haranguing people standing in the line but that was about it. It was really what I thought a protest should be."
On the field, the Springboks beat Wanganui 45-9.
Now resident in Wanganui - Mr Penney said he was looking forward to the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
"I'd love to go to a couple of games, but the cost is just horrendous. I'll watch as many as I can on television, though."