New Zealand’s national game is Rugby and we are passionate supporters of our Men in Black. Rugby Union is a contact team sport which originated in England in the first half of the 19th century. The New Zealand Rugby traditions include the haka (Maori traditional challenge performed before international games) and the black jersey. The All Blacks who toured the British Isles, France and the United States in 1905-1906 (known then as the ‘Original’s) first donned the black jersey with the legionary Silver Fern across the heart of the players, they also performed the haka for their first test against Scotland. The silver fern was inspired by the frond of the New Zealand tree fern however it has come to signify inspiration and New Zealanders have embraced this image to symbolise us as Kiwi’s.  

Over the years the All Black jersey has changed considerably and more recently become more aerodynamic, but the silver fern and the black colour remains as does the mana (respect) that comes with wearing it.

In 2015, an Englishman bought Dave Gallaher’s (Captain of the 1905 All Blacks Originals) jersey from the 1905 tour for one hundred and eighty thousand pounds.

As I said rugby is a tradition in New Zealand and almost all Grandad’s would have played the game either at school or in later years.

My children’s Grandad, Eric, was never an All Black, although many of his friends were; he has spent much of his life dedicated to the passion of rugby both playing and supporting. Eric played for the Hasting Boys High School 1^st XV for two years, then after leaving school joined the Haumoana Rugby club. He made the Hawke’s Bay junior reps as a captain, then played for seven years for Hastings High School Old Boys (late 1950, early 1960s), during which time made the Hastings sub-union rep team each year. After finishing his playing he served on the Hastings sub-union and Hawke’s Bay Union, and was the Manager of the Hawke’s Bay touring team which played in Queensland and New South Wales in Australia in 1980. He competed in later life in the Golden Oldies tournaments in South Africa and Fiji in the late 1970’s early 1980’s.

When it comes to watching and supporting rugby, Grandad is mad keen, as are most of the men of his generation. They have become used to watching the All Black games live at all hours of the night; however viewing our men in black has changed over recent years.

When our grandads first started watching the games that were broadcast live, they just had to turn on the television and enjoy the spectacle.

With the introduction of pay TV, Sky Sport became the pay to view option in the 1990’s. You simply rung the company and they sent out an installer, you paid your monthly subscription, then sat back and enjoyed. If however you chose not to pay, you could always watch it free a hour or two later on another channel.

This year New Zealand will see the introduction of live streaming (via the internet) from Spark Sport for the Rugby World cup. This means that you have to pay if you want to watch all the matches, however they have allowed TV1 (free to view) to show 12 out of the 48 matches, with the majority of the NZ games being delayed. The semi finals and finals will be live.

With Japan hosting the world cup the time difference isn’t too bad, many of the matches won’t start until 10pm but that shouldn’t deter the stalwarts among the rugby community as much of their television viewing over the years has been in the middle of the night.

Here is what you can see for free:

However if your Grandad lives and breaths rugby, this may not be enough, as he may also want to enjoy some of the other key match ups including: France vs Argentina, Ireland vs Scotland, Japan vs Ireland, Australia vs Wales, Scotland vs Samoa, England vs Argentina, Japan vs Samoa, England vs France and Ireland vs Samoa.

Spark Sports are offering access to the world cup via their Tournament Pass for $79.99 (until the 11^th September when it will become $89.99). The other advantage is that you can view the matches live or delayed on demand so if you nod off during the match you can enjoy the rest of it the following morning over breakfast.

So if Grandad decides to splash out to see all the games how does he go about getting hooked up.

The advertisements say, “if you are watching on one of these (phone, mobile or computer) then it is easy, just jump on line, download the app and you are on your way; if you want to watch on your big screen (TV) then the options include Chromecast, which passes the action through your smaller device through wifi, just plug it into your TV and follow the instructions, or if you have a TV that connects to the internet already (smart TV) our apps will be available on some of these”….Sound easy….not to Grandad.

How do I get started?

Technical Support

The most important step to enabling you to watch all 48 games live or at your leisure on the TV – do not skip as this step as it will delay the process and cause hours of unnecessary stress.

• Get hold of one of your grandchildren or great grandchildren to set this up for you, as they will help you follow these instructions. They are your technical support.

Spark Sport

If you are paying, then no matter how you choose to view (stream) you are going to have complete these two steps – but first check that you can view before signing up (review all steps below):

1. Sign up to become a Spark Sport customer – $19.99 per month (cancel at anytime) this will give you access to F1, Premier League, NBA TV and more, then buy a tournament pass for the Rugby World Cup, currently $79.99 (one off cost).
2. Once you are signed up then you have to download the Spark Sport application onto the device (tablet or iPad, mobile phone (one without keys that you press) or a computer.

Do you have an Internet Connection?

• You cannot watch unless you have access to the internet. How do you know if you have the internet? Most Grandads with internet would access TradeMe to look for a bargin or Facebook to see all the latest photos posted by their kids and grandchildren. Ask you technical support. This can be tricky as your connection maybe from the device (mobile phone or tablet/iPad) or from a connection in the wall (ADSL, VDSL or Fibre with a wireless router).
• Do you know the password for your internet connection, if not start looking.

Internet sorted, now how can I watch on my TV?

• If you have a SMART TV then you are good to go. What is the difference between a SMART and other TV’s you ask, SMART TV’s are new technology that let you access the internet from the TV, which means that you can view your Trademe and Facebook on the screen or watch TV1 on Demand. If this is you then you are good to go, complete Steps 1 & 2 and start watching.

• If your TV is like most of us, it is not SMART so you need something that will allow you to display the information from either your phone, tablet/iPad or computer. Your TV will need a HDMI port (High Definition Multi-media Interface hole) to enable your devices to connect to the TV to enable you to view – ask your technical support. If it doesn’t have one then this is a major issue, you may need to re think or purchase a new TV with a HDMI as all new ones have them.  

• HDMI port confirmed then you can connect one of the following devices to enable you to view on your TV.
  • Smartphone, Tablet/iPad: You will need a streaming device like a Chromecast or Apple TV (purchase from electronic store – ask your technical support – approximately Chromecast $59 or an Apple TV $249) connected to the TV. These need to be setup and linked to your internet usually wirelessly so you need your password. The Chromecast requires an application to be downloaded but this is free.
  • Laptop: You will need a HDMI cord (purchase from electronic store – ask your technical support) that is connected to both your laptop and into the TV.
  • Complete steps 1 & 2 note, the Spark Sport Application needs to be downloaded to your computer.
  • Your technical support will have to give you a step by step on how to access the application so that you can view the games.

In summary, the 2019 Rugby World Cup is coming, if you happy with the free to view line up then sit back and relax you are sorted.

However if you want to see all the matches you have to get sorted now, don’t leave it until the last minute. Use you grandchildren to be your technical support as they do this stuff every day or you can pay around $150 for one of the electronic stores to help you out.

Most importantly GO THE ALL BLACKS!!!