A pre-match flyover by two jets ahead of the All Blacks test in Cape Town overnight has drawn a mix of admiration and unease, with some questioning how low the aircraft flew over nearly 60,000 spectators.
The two custom-painted Embraer aircraft, one green and one black for the two teams, swept over DHL Stadium before kick-off.
Airlink has been the official domestic carrier for the Rugby's Greatest Rivalry 2026 tour, ferrying the New Zealand and South African squads between their matches.
The moment lit up social media, where reactions were divided.
One fan called it "incredible" while another said the pilot's moves were "fabulous".
"South Africa is a movie," one said.
A few raised questions about whether the pass was appropriate.
One commenter on the All Blacks' Instagram post of the flyover called it "utter madness".
"Never thought a pilot would be the one to end the greatest rivalry in rugby," another said on Instagram.
"That was a light gust of wind away from being an unfathomable disaster. If you nearly tailstrike a stadium, you're too low," one person said on X.
Others defended those flying, with one saying pilots "land full passenger flights in hectic weather conditions on incredibly difficult runways every day of their lives".
Airlink used similarly liveried jets for a formation flyby over Ellis Park earlier in the tour.
The flyover follows a similar Qatar Airways pass over the same stadium in June last year, and echoes the 1995 Rugby World Cup final, when a South African Airways 747 flew low over Ellis Park bearing the message "Good Luck Bokke".
Boks square the series on the field
The test, which started with the low flyover, finished with the Springboks surviving a turbulent last few minutes to hold off the All Blacks 33-26 for a win which squared the series.
The Boks will believe they are heading in the right direction after a predictable response to their Johannesburg setback last weekend.
“You can’t let the Springboks get ahead like that in the first two minutes and I think we were just chasing the game,” Savea said afterwards.
“But I’m very proud of the boys – we stuck in there, we fought, but we came up short.”
It was All Blacks coach Dave Rennie's first loss in charge.
The deciding third test was at Johannesburg's FNB Stadium next weekend.
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