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Cape Town - Hundreds of fans could be turned away at next weekend's Rugby Championship Test between the All Blacks and Springboks in Wellington.
According to the Stuff.co.nz website, Ticketek has advised New Zealand Rugby (NZR) to cancel more than 700 tickets for the game at Westpac Stadium, citing "fraudulent sales".
The NZR released a press statement on the matter on Friday in which it urged fans to only purchase tickets through legitimate channels.
The NZR added that any ticket holders concerned about the validity of tickets purchased on secondary market channels to contact on Ticketqueries@nzrugby.co.nz.
The Test between the two arch-rivals is close to a sell-out, which means 700 tickets will become available to the general public on Friday.
NZR chief commercial officer Richard Thomas said cancelling the tickets was a matter of taking a stand against fraud.
"Unfortunately, it is highly likely that some of these tickets will have already been on-sold to unknowing fans on the secondary market and those fans may only discover their tickets are invalid when they present them at the gate at Westpac Stadium."
Both country's open their Rugby Championship campaigns on Saturday, with South Africa hosting Australia in Johannesburg (17:05 kick-off) and New Zealand playing Argentina in Buenos Aires (20:05 SA time).
The Test at Westpac Stadium is scheduled for 09:35 (SA time) next Saturday (July 27).
The teams also met at the same ground last year, when the Springboks claimed an upset 36-34 win.
