Scotty Stevenson has been announced as Spark's face of their 2019 Rugby World Cup coverage.

Scotty "Sumo" Stevenson will be the face and voice of the 2019 Rugby World Cup.

The long-time Sky TV commentator and presenter will switch to Spark and TVNZ from next year, the rights holders for next September's tournament.

Spark's head of sport Jeff Latch was happy to have landed his man.

"It's great to have an experienced presenter and commentator of Scotty's calibre on the team.

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"We'll announce more details in due course - but you can be sure that we'll make good use of Scotty's varied talents.

​"Kiwis are passionate about a well-presented game of rugby – and we're really confident that the addition of Scotty to the team will set up the coverage of the Rugby World Cup on Spark Sport and TVNZ to be a classic." Stevenson's switch is another significant development in the growing battle between Spark and Sky for supremacy in sports broadcasting. Spark has been unapologetic about its ambitions beyond the 2019 Rugby World Cup, telling Stuff last month that it now has "the capability to go after all sports in New Zealand, including rugby" and was on a mission to make sport "accessible to Kiwis again". That raises the possibility it will pursue the rights to All Blacks tests and Super Rugby, something it is now capable of after a tie-up with NEP, the company that broadcasts the NRL and AFL in Australia. Stevenson would appear to a good fit for moves of that scale and appeals to a younger generation of viewer who is comfortable consuming their sports content via their devices. Spark has already picked up the broadcasting rights for the FIH Hockey event series, including all Black Sticks men's and women's competitions. The company said it would produce and be the host broadcaster for all FIH (International Hockey Federation) Pro League matches played in New Zealand. The four-year deal marks Spark's first move into sports production and the company said in an NZX statement that it demonstrated its ambition to become "a key player in the local sports market". Stevenson will also work across other sports Spark Sport programmes as the telco ups its game in the sports broadcasting space. He will also take on a sports reporting role for 1 NEWS. TVNZ's head of news and current affairs John Gillespie described Stevenson as an "impact player". "He'll bring an exciting dimension to our sports coverage with a varied remit across his different roles. "It's really great to have Scotty join the 1 NEWS sports team in the build-up to the biggest event of next year, the Rugby World Cup."

HANNAH PETERS/GETTY IMAGES Spark has already indicated an interest in more rugby deals after the Rugby World Cup.