JOHANNESBURG -- The noise of the vuvuzelas may not be heard after the World Cup as some other sports have banned them from grounds, with rugby taking the lead.
South Africa have confirmed that they will take on the All Blacks in a Tri-Nations Test at National Stadium, also known as Soccer City, in Soweto on August 21 but officials have maintained that the plastic horns will not be welcomed.
"We'd rather not have vuvuzelas because they will drown out calls by players at line-outs and scrums," Golden Lions President Kevin de Klerk told reporters in Johannesburg on Wednesday. The 88,791-seat stadium will host the final of the FIFA World Cup on July 11 and creates the possibility of the largest home crowd at a Springbok Test since the touring British & Irish Lions drew an estimated 95,000 to Ellis Park in 1955.
The vuvuzela has already been banned from the tests in New Zealand, with Eden Park chief executive David Kennedy maintaining that "any vuvuzelas brought to the venue will be confiscated." Meanwhile, the horns have also been banned from the streets of Pamplona for the opening of the San Fermin running of the bulls.