South African rugby's governing body has apologised over disruption to the All Blacks haka ahead of last weekend's test against the Springboks at Ellis Park.
"I apologised in person and have written to the NZRFU to formally express our regret and apologies for what occurred," said chief executive Rian Oberholzer in a statement.
Music was played, pyrotechnics were set off and an Emirates Airlines A380 made a low pass over the stadium before the All Blacks had finished their rendition of Kapa O Pango.
Oberholzer said it was due to human error.
"It was never the intention to schedule any activities that would coincide with such an iconic moment of any test match against the All Blacks. That it occurred was a result of timekeeping challenges and simple human error.
"In the confusion, the crowd's excited cheering was mistaken to have marked the conclusion of the haka by an unsighted sound engineer who restarted the music programme. It was highly regrettable but in no way deliberate."
Oberholzer said that SA Rugby was "distressed" by the breach of protocol: "We hold dear the values and traditions of the game.
"The unfortunate events in no way represent any lack of respect that South African rugby holds for the significance and history of the haka. We will ensure such errors cannot be repeated."
All Black assistant coach Jason Ryan told RNZ that the team had accepted the apology.
"In all honesty you sometimes get a bit of chaos around that. The South African players themselves stood there and respected it as they always do, it sounds like the officials are the ones who need the uppercut. So if they've apologised, it's fine."
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