Springboks may not arrive for test until Saturday

Press, 10 August 1981, Page 1

Springboks may not arrive for test until Saturday

From KEVIN McMENAMMIN in Dunedin

The Springboks are unlikely to travel to Christchurch for Saturday's first test until the morning of the match. ' .

Plans for the team after tomorrow's match against Otago are being kept secret, but there is good reason for believing that the side will return to Invercargill, which it left yesterday after four virtually protest-free days. As the Springboks, and their press entourage, left Invercargill, yesterday morning there was a distinct "see you soon” attitude from local officials. It is believed also that hotel accommodation has been tentatively booked for police groups in Invercargill later this week. The danger of waiting until Saturday morning before flying the team to Christchurch is that bad w’eather could close either Christ-

church or Invercargill airport.

A likely contingency plan is that if the weather forecasts for either city are bad the team will travel north, either by bus or plane, on Friday and spend the night either in or in close proximity to Christchurch. Ashburton and Timaru have been mentioned as possible stopover places. Whatever plan is adopted, and the team's travel arrangements now seem very much in the hands of the police, the Springboks will have one of the most unusual preparations ever for the test. The first time the players will see Lancaster Park will be when they run on to it on Saturday. The reasons being aired for a return to Invercargill are both the difficulty of finding secure accommodation in Christchurch and the expected increase in the level of protest actions in the city. No announcement is being

made, either, about where the Springboks will go after Christchurch, now that their mid-week match against South Canterbury has been cancelled. The best of several rumours is that they will return south to the Queenstown area and spend two or three days "on holiday" before moving to their next playing venue. Nelson.

If the Springboks found peace and quiet in Invercargill their calm was broken when they arrived in Dunedin about 4.30 p.m. yesterday. About 50 protesters had gathered outside the Southern Cross Hotel, where the Springboks are staying, and although the protesters were caught unawares when the team's bus arrived at the hotel through a back entrance they soon made their presence felt.

With HARTs national organiser, Mr John Minto, leading the chants, the protesters

staged a noisy demonstratibn outside the hotel for threequarters of an hour. They then marched round the block and five arrests were made when the protesters clashed with the police. From Nelson, Barry Simpson reports that the Springbok match against Nelson Bays at Trafalgar Park, Nelson, on August 22, will be played, according to the chairman of the New Zealand Rugby Union’s council, Mr C. A. Blazey. There was concern among rugby followers, and the police, that Trafalgar Park would be very difficult to secure against demonstrations. The unfenced rear of the park backs on to the Maitai River and what was once the railway reclamation — a perimeter of at least 300 metres.

At low tide access to the park from the riverbed or the shore is simple. However, at high tide the situation is quite different, and high tide on August 22 is’at 2.48 p.m.

Asked yesterday if the abandonment of the South Canterbury match for security reasons could also result in the cancelling of the Nelson Bays match for the same reasons, Mr Blazey said it was certainly not proposed at present. “The tour will go on as planned,” he said. On Saturday evening in Invercargill, a blast in the toilet of a crowded hotel hurt no-one, but shattered the enamel bowl. A small home-made bomb — a balloon filled with a gas mixture — was responsible for the 9.35 p.m. explosion in the Southland Hotel, the police said. No-one was in the toilet at the time. The head of the Invercargill C. 1.8., Detective Inspector K. G. Schwass, said it was believed the device had been ignited by hotel patrons celebrating Saturday's encounter between the Springboks and Southland. It was not connected with pro-tour or anti-tour factions, he believed.