Bok fans in NZ turn to sleuthing to track down team's arrival time in Auckland

CAPE TOWN - South Africans living in Auckland are turning into amateur detectives today, desperately trying to track down when the Springboks will arrive in New Zealand ahead of their upcoming rugby test match.

With no official word from organisers, expats are scouring social media and contacting team officials, hoping to be at the airport to welcome their heroes.

Cape Town-born Auckland resident Cindy Vahed describes the lengths she's gone to:

"I said to my friend, months ago, when we booked the tickets, I said to her: 'Sam, come hell or high water, we are going to be at the airport when this team arrives.'"

The search has become a collaborative effort across Auckland's South African community, with fans sharing flight information and airport contacts on social media groups.

"We saw the photo that Siya posted of him in the plane. Then I commented on that photo saying, 'When are you here? Can we come and see you guys?' I saw that Layla Kolbe commented on that photo as well. So I then Instagrammed her. I said: 'I'm not a weirdo. I'm in New Zealand. How can we meet the boys?'"

Vahed said the hunt consumed her entire morning at work.

"I'm back in my office, I'm shouting across the floor in my office: 'Does anybody know what time they're landing?'"

Despite the unofficial nature of their intelligence gathering, Vahed and fellow supporters are heading to the airport anyway.

"This was from 9 o'clock this morning till about 12 o'clock. And now we're going to the airport."

It's unclear how airport security will react to the effort, but that hasn't dampened the enthusiasm of Auckland's South African community.