An All Blacks fan from Christchurch who missed out on A-grade seats at the test match against the Springboks in Cape Town over the weekend says he and his group were told their tickets did not exist.

South Africa Rugby says it will pursue legal measures against travel agencies after claims SA Rugby was behind failures which saw fans miss out on tickets for the All Blacks' second test against the Springboks in Cape Town.

All Blacks fan Ant was one of 29 fans from Christchurch on a tour in South Africa.

He had paid for premium seats, but was told the night before the game on Sunday morning (NZ time) his tickets no longer existed.

"Everybody went into a bit of a meltdown, pretty upset," he said.

"The group's pretty disappointed about what happened."

He managed to get seats in the nosebleeds, but told RNZ he did not have a clear answer for what went wrong.

"We've been told a number of stories, and I've read some reports about what happened. There's a lot of fingers pointing in different directions at the moment," Ant said.

The 33-26 All Blacks loss did not help how they were feeling, he said.

Ant said the group was yet to be compensated, but there was talk about how they wanted to proceed.

"I guess that will work its way through, whether we go through our travel insurance or somebody comes to the party," Ant said.

There was some worry ahead of the third test on Sunday, he said.

"There's a bit of concern amongst the group whether our tickets are legit," Ant said.

"I think the tour leader's gone out and bought another 29 tickets just to make sure that we are definitely going to get a seat at the game."

"Fingers crossed," he said.

In a statement, South Africa Rugby said travel agencies acted "illegally and recklessly" in selling tickets they did not have.

"In subsequent communication with disappointed clients, claims have been made that the issue lay at the door of SA Rugby. This is completely untrue.

"Agencies sold the promise of tickets they did not have - and could not secure - for the Test in breach of the events terms and conditions of sale, and without ever having been given access by SA Rugby or its ticketing agency.

"These companies acted illegally and recklessly in pursuit of their own commercial gain at the expense of their clients," the statement said.

  • The next test match kicks off in Johannesburg at 3.10am (NZT) on Sunday, September 6.