World wide web in union
Kiwi rugby fans will have 48 games to follow when the World Cup starts on Saturday.
While a few hardcore fans may clear their schedules to watch them all on television, most people will need to rely on other sources to keep up with the results.
WATCHING ONLINE
With most of the games being at inconvenient times for Kiwis, one option is to get the Fan Pass app from Sky TV. It’s free for Apple and Android devices and lets you pay a daily ($14.99) or weekly ($19.99) rate to access the Sky Sport channels 1 to 4.
There are no contracts and you can watch anywhere.
PHONE APPS
The official All Blacks app (Apple and Android, free) has features including news, player information, statistics, and videos. You can also try the Official Rugby World Cup 2015 app (Apple and Android, free). You can personalise it with your favourite team and follow their progress.
Another one to try is Rugby Live Scores (Apple and Android, free) which provides live scores for all major international rugby. It includes instant score updates, latest news and video match reports.
Another option is to follow players and teams on Twitter to get a different perspective on the tournament. Start with the @AllBlacks and then maybe add in the official World Cup account.
Then add players for an insight into what’s happening behind the scenes in England. There’s plenty of All Blacks to follow, including Dan Carter and Sonny Bill Williams along with everyone’s favourite Wallaby, Quade Cooper.
Other accounts worth following are parody account Not Sir Graham Henry, Springbok player Bryan Habana, and former players Will Carling and Ali Williams.
You won’t get statistics or scores, but you will get a chance to see parts of the World Cup you don’t normally see. The All Blacks have an account and so do several All Blacks including Aaron Smith, Liam Messam, and Malakai Fekitoa.
For an international flavour, you can follow England’s Sam Burgess, Australia’s Matt Giteau, and Italy’s Sergio Parisse.
GAME TIME
Rugby is a tricky game to translate to a smartphone, but there are two that do it quite well.
The first is Flick Kick Rugby Kickoff (free for Apple and Android). It is simple to play and involves using your finger to flick the ball between the posts. You’ll need to draw on your inner Grant Fox as the game goes on, as wind speed and tricky angles come into play.
The other option, Rugby Nations 15, is a lot more comprehensive and lets you guide a rookie player through the ranks. It looks great and it has good reviews, however, it costs $6.49 for Apple and Android phones.