Barbecue ends ‘confinement’

Press, 7 September 1981, Page 1

Barbecue ends ‘confinement’

By

KEVIN McMENAMIN

in Whangarei

About a dozen people were on hand to stage a brief protest when the Springboks arrived at their Whangarei hotel just after 2.30 p.m. yesterday. The team travelled by bus from Auckland, stopping off at Kaiwaka, where the local rugby club provided a barbecue lunch, both for the Springboks and their police escort. ■

The Springboks' manager. Professor Johan Claassen, told the welcoming party of local rugby officials that his team was looking forward to its time in the far north.

“We are glad indeed to get out of confinement,” said Professor Claassen, whose team was accommodated beneath the No. 1 grandstand

at Eden Park from Friday until yesterday morning. Whangarei had its first anti-tour march on Saturday, about 60 people taking part. Only two policemen accompanied the march, and after it one of the policemen thanked the protesters for their lawful and considerate conduct.

However, overnight a number of anti-tour slogans were painted on buildings and walls in Whangarei. The Whangarei City Council has issued a permit for an anti-tour march to be held tomorrow, the day the Springboks play the secondlast match of their tour, against North Auckland. The application for a march was sought by a group calling itself Concerned Citizens of Whangarei. None of the main anti-

tour organisations have established branches in Whangarei. One of the conditions of the permit is that the marchers “keep to the left of the road" and comply with any requests made by either the police or the -Ministry of Transport. ' Tomorrow evening, after

the match, the Springboks will be entertained by a local Maori concert party. It seems unlikely that the Springboks will return to Auckland before Friday, and some of the party,. probably the members not selected for the final test, may spend Wednesday and Thursday in the Bay of Islands.