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This was not a soccer ground in South Africa, however - this was deep in the heart of the Bay of Plenty, where the vuvuzela has finally landed.
The Bay of Plenty Rugby Union introduced the two-foot long noise-maker - made both famous and infamous at the football World Cup - to the locals at Friday's pre-season rugby match against Taranaki in Whakatane.
The first batch of 60 was all but sold out by half time but the good news - or bad news if you're not a fan of the troubling trumpet - is there's plenty more where they came from.
"We ordered 1000 of them a couple of months ago, long before they became famous," BOPRU marketing manager Dirk Merwe explained.
"It wasn't until the World Cup that we sat there thinking 'Oh my God, what have we done?' Obviously they're popular with the kids, which is a big thing for us but we just need to make sure they're not going to annoy too many people."
That could be tricky - the sound emitted by a vuvuzela is the equivalent to 127 decibels - louder than a drum's 122 decibels or a referee's whistle at 121.8 decibels. Get enough of them together and it's no wonder the All England Club banned them at this year's Wimbledon tournament, while a cluster of English Premier League football clubs have followed suit.
It appears Baypark, Rotorua International Stadium and Whakatane's Rugby Park are bucking the trend.
And the verdict? Whakatane Intermediate students Kagen Ohlson, 13, and Teonui Moore, 12, had several minutes' practice, before emitting a long, drawn-out fart sound from their plastic trumpets. Giggles and high-fives followed.
It says it all, really.
The Bay of Plenty Rugby Union introduced the two-foot long noise-maker - made both famous and infamous at the football World Cup - to the locals at Friday's pre-season rugby match against Taranaki in Whakatane.
The first batch of 60 was all but sold out by half time but the good news - or bad news if you're not a fan of the troubling trumpet - is there's plenty more where they came from.
"We ordered 1000 of them a couple of months ago, long before they became famous," BOPRU marketing manager Dirk Merwe explained.
"It wasn't until the World Cup that we sat there thinking 'Oh my God, what have we done?' Obviously they're popular with the kids, which is a big thing for us but we just need to make sure they're not going to annoy too many people."
That could be tricky - the sound emitted by a vuvuzela is the equivalent to 127 decibels - louder than a drum's 122 decibels or a referee's whistle at 121.8 decibels. Get enough of them together and it's no wonder the All England Club banned them at this year's Wimbledon tournament, while a cluster of English Premier League football clubs have followed suit.
It appears Baypark, Rotorua International Stadium and Whakatane's Rugby Park are bucking the trend.
And the verdict? Whakatane Intermediate students Kagen Ohlson, 13, and Teonui Moore, 12, had several minutes' practice, before emitting a long, drawn-out fart sound from their plastic trumpets. Giggles and high-fives followed.
It says it all, really.
