A new smart ball will be used during the Autumn Nation Series and Six Nations that promises fans and coaches greater insight into matches.
The smart ball technology, which provides real time data and analytics, is the result of a new partnership between Six Nations Rugby and Sage, a global leader in software technology. The partnership will span the upcoming November internationals as well as both the men's and women's Six Nations tournaments.
The smart ball will be first used when Scotland host Australia on October 29 at Murrayfield. As well as providing more real time data to allow broadcasters to offer metrics on things such as kick hang-times and territorial gains from kicking battles, it will also provide coaches with plenty of analytics - allowing them to make more informed decisions.
Detecting forward passes is also a potential feature of the smart ball. That element is still being trialled so won't be used in the autumn but the hope is that over time it will be used if endorsed by World Rugby.
"It'll hopefully help the viewer understand more by bringing more analytics into their living room," said former Wales captain Sam Waburton. "That's always been a priority of mine, making the game easy to understand. This will definitely help.
"The thing I'm looking forward to most is knowing exactly where the ball went out when you're kicking to the corner. That's probably the decision that is affected most by human error in rugby. Defending a two-metre gain on a five-metre lineout is huge.
"I'm fascinated to see how it impacts coaches as well. I used to like it when defence coaches would challenge the kick chase. Now, you can see that extra data on hangtime and how many metres forwards are running, you can question why a forward is only making up 25 metres in five seconds, for example. It'll perhaps create more accountability - these are the metrics I'd be looking at if I was a coach.
"It's quite a nice measure to see how quickly the ball can get from one side of the field to the other.
"What people always forget when the ball goes out from those 'kick tennis' battles is whether it's a win or not, as people forget where it all started. Having that data will help the data better understand the territorial gain and why it's easier to kick the ball rather than play 20 phases going nowhere."
Commenting on the partnership with Sage, Ben Morel, CEO of Six Nations Rugby, said: “Six Nations Rugby is a fan-focussed organisation, working in collaboration with each union, Federation, and partner and to deliver truly unmissable experiences. The partnership with Sage is incredibly exciting for everyone involved, as they share a desire to enhance the experience for audiences, and ultimately bring even more fans into the game.
“To offer fans even greater data and insight from the on-field action through innovative broadcast and social presentation is going to be another important step in ensuring we are offering the best possible experience for the audience, as well as supporting the teams on and off the field.”
Cath Keers, CMO of Sage said: “Becoming the Official Insights Partner of Six Nations Rugby is an exciting step for Sage, as we continue to bring our insight and decision-making capabilities to life, in a human and accessible way.
“For some teams, the Autumn Nations Series will be the first time they have been able to gather data and insight from the smart ball technology. This is incredibly exciting, given our ambition to support teams in their decision making in training and during games, based on data led insight.
“For fans watching, Sage wants to use its role as Official Insights Partner is to help bring that new insight to life and enhance their experience, both through broadcast coverage and across social media. Our Sage customers, partners, employees and communities internationally will also benefit from the partnership with access to tickets, experiences, and content.”
Sage is the Official Insights Partner of Six Nations Rugby and will be powering the Smart Ball this Autumn Nations Series. #SageInsights
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