Spark to broadcast more Rugby World Cup matches

Rugby fans are being promised they'll get to view All Blacks' matches on free-to-air television without any fuss during the Rugby World Cup. Spark and TVNZ have partnered to broadcast this September's event in Japan. Twelve of the 48 matches will be broadcast on TVNZ - seven of those live and five delayed. That's up from an earlier announcement of just nine games on free to air tv, letting households - especially in remote areas with patchy internet - watch All Blacks' games the usual way. All matches will be available on Spark's streaming service which starts at about $60 if purchased early. That's more than half the cost of Sky's offering in 2015. The head of sport at Spark, Jeff Latch, told Jonathan Mitchell he is confident viewers will not be switched-off by the idea of streaming.