"It'd be a real bugger not being able to watch the games live like we have for so many years."
Hurdle was a volunteer for the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand and watches all Super Rugby, Mitre 10 Cup and All Blacks games on TV.
He has even travelled to Australia and South Africa to watch the All Blacks play live.
"Rugby's my life. I could just talk about it all day. Not watching my own country would be bloody disappointing."
Hurdle said his wife might be able to help him out with the streaming but if she was not home when the game's on he did not "know what I'd do".
There were also a lot of young lads at his rugby club he could watch with if need be, but he preferred to watch on TV at home where it was quieter and easier to concentrate.
Tauranga rugby identity Terry Leaming – aka Hori BOP – also had reservations about the new broadcast deal.
He said this week's announcement did not come as a surprise as it had been on the cards for a while and was inevitable.
"The problem is the world's trying to go that way but I'm old school and what I've found with Sky is that they're more in touch with the people and I'm a people person."
He said Sky TV's sport coverage was "very, very good" - right down to the interactions between commentators, players, coaching staff and fans.
"Is this new medium going to be able to have that intimate relationship between the people and the sport?"
Leaming also had concerns for rugby fans like him who were not computer literate.
An upside to the new broadcast deal, however, was that it would provide a lot more access to rugby and exposure to young people who did not watch TV anymore, he said.
Rugby fans from all around New Zealand have raised similar concerns as Hurdle and Leaming this week, including people in rural locations with slow or limited broadband.
But InternetNZ chief executive Jordan Carter told the Bay of Plenty Times there had been big investment in improved broadband infrastructure all around New Zealand, including in the Western Bay of Plenty region.
"New Zealand's internet fabric is better prepared to deal with a big streaming event like this than it has ever been. The Commonwealth Games experience will have given a good test too, and no doubt Spark and other ISPs will take the lessons on board as they prepare for the Rugby World Cup."
Spark has said it is mindful "some people may still not have adequate coverage to stream the matches at home" and that the company was looking at a range of options to ensure the content reaches a broad audience.
Managing director Simon Moutter has said Spark would do its best to ensure everyone had access to the event, and in extreme situations, would look to screen games at local rugby clubs or schools which had internet.
He said there would only be a small number of people in New Zealand who would not have access by the World Cup, adding that with the Spark and TVNZ deal, the event would be accessible to a much wider audience.
"We'll figure out a way to make it accessible, and I do remind people that accessibility for the last Rugby World Cup was limited to homes that had a Sky box."
TVNZ and Spark's 2019 Rugby World Cup coverage
•Seven games, including the opening match and the final, will be screened live on TVNZ.
•A yet-to-be-confirmed number of delayed matches will also screen on TVNZ.
•Rugby fans will be able to stream all matches and related content live, or on-demand, over their home broadband or mobile connection.
•The service will offer both free and paid content to everyone, not just Spark customers.
•Fans will be able to stream games over a broadband or mobile connection via an app that can connect to TVs, laptops, tablets and phones.
•Spark won't be releasing pricing details until next year. However, packages will include individual match passes.
-Additional reporting: NZ Herald
