This year marks the 25th anniversary of the 1981 Springbok Tour of New Zealand. Last night I watched the TV One documentary ‘EXPOSÉ: TRY REVOLUTION.’

The documentary focused on how the Springbok tour affected South Africans. The 1981 Springbok tour of New Zealand was hugely anticipated by rugby-mad white South Africans. New Zealand was their favourite rival and for the first time the tour was to be screened live on South African TV. But when the country tuned into the first broadcast, the Hamilton match, and saw hundreds of protestors standing on the field, South Africans went into a kind of collective shock.

"To see strife between families in New Zealand and how it really ripped the country apart, well I think that's quite bad and then realising this isn't the way it should be& that was big eye opener."Wynand Claasen, Springbok Captain 1981

Try Revolution explores what happened over the ensuing months and indeed years as the impact of the "The Tour" was fully realised. From a prison mate of Nelson Mandela to the Captain of the '81 Springboks, the documentary uncovers how the actions of the New Zealand protestors were perceived, understood, and used to help in the struggle against the apartheid regime.

"We'd be having a beer when the game was cancelled and actually discussing the politics behind the rugby and not just the fact that somebody had run onto the field and that we should just drag them off, beat them up and toss them into the back of a van." South African Rugby Fan

In the documentary South Africans from Archbishop Desmond Tutu to the Captain of the 1981 Springboks, and ordinary rugby fans talk about how the games, the images, the reports and the conversations that surrounded “The Tour” affected them personally.

"You really can't even compute its value, it said the world has not forgotten us, we are not alone" Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Watching this doco made me feel proud to be a New Zealander. It would be good to see New Zealanders that fired up about some current world issues - we may be a small nation but working collectively and with a strong voice we can have an impact.