A chance to find out what's causing all that buzz

The sound of the vuvuzela has become synonymous with the World Cup in South Africa. Photo / Natalie Slade

New Zealand beware - the vuvuzela is here.

The African horns, which are said to make a similar sound to a hornets' nest, have upset many soccer fans and could generate an uproar at next year's Rugby World Cup.

The cheap, plastic horns that have prevented many television viewers of the soccer World Cup from hearing anything else going on at the games are now available in New Zealand.

Rugby World Cup spokesman Shane Harmon said there were no plans to ban vuvuzelas from next year's games.

"I think they're mainly South African. I don't think it'll reach the scale that there is over there," he said.

"People are always going to be bringing in flags and things. But if they bring a whole brass band in then that's a whole different story."

The Herald obtained a plastic vuvuzela for $2. The horns are also selling on Trade Me for $25 each.

A Facebook page calling for Fifa to ban the horns has attracted over 222,000 new fans since Friday.

Leonie Du Plessis, a South African living in New Zealand, says vuvuzelas do not have a place in rugby. "Vuvuzelas are synonymous with soccer in South Africa. If banned [at the Rugby World Cup] I would support it."

However, spectators at Carisbrook's final rugby test on Saturday can rest easy.

Air horns - which would include the dreaded vuvuzelas - are banned.

Fans blowing the long, noisy horns have been a feature of World Cup matches in South Africa.

But Otago Rugby Football Union operations manager Coryn Huddy said yesterday that even if there were any in Dunedin, they were not allowed at the game.

Tickets specify that spectators can not take into the ground certain items including air horns or loud hailers.

The controversial horns have been associated with permanent noise-induced hearing loss and can potentially spread colds and flu viruses on a greater scale than coughing or shouting.

Vuvuzela noise-cancelling devices have even popped up on Trade Me.

And enterprising viewers have said that any television with a graphic equaliser can minimise the drone.

A Herald experiment during the All Whites' game against Slovakia showed that turning the 300hz band to zero reduces the relentless B-flat of the vuvuzela to background noise.

A Slovak newspaper yesterday put the blame on the sound of the vuvuzelas for their team's last-gasp surrender against New Zealand.

- additional reporting Otago Daily Times