IRFU Vodafone project delivers curated ‘on the run’ training feedback to rugby players

“Our approach to this World Cup has been to empty the tank with everything that we can do, in any way that might give us a half per cent extra somewhere on the pitch,” the Irish rugby team’s head of analytics and innovation, Vinny Hammond, told The Irish Times last week at the unveiling of a new technology project between the IRFU and sponsors Vodafone.

The project sees the implementation of 5G MPN technology at Ireland’s High Performance Centre at the Sports Ireland Campus in Abbotstown, north Dublin, and through a combination of ensured high-speed network connectivity and artificial intelligence, allows for coaches to deliver detailed and curated feedback to players in real-time during training sessions.

Explaining how the technology is utilised on the training field, Ireland forwards coach Paul O’Connell described how through a combination of eight high-resolution cameras placed strategically around the pitch, alongside the use of drone technology, the Irish analysis team can feed information back to coaches instantaneously.

[ Irish rugby team adopts ‘game changing’ new tech ahead of Rugby World Cup ]

“We have a lot of review meetings and Andy [Farrell] speaks a lot about trying to find a way around that. He doesn’t want a lot of long meetings, so this is a great opportunity for us to have quick reviews on-field, fix something on the run, and get straight back out on to the pitch to see how it works,” O’Connell said.

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The Irish rugby team will be the first and only side at this year’s World Cup to utilise and benefit from such technology, according to Vodafone Ireland. Before this new 5G MPN technology, the Irish analysis and coaching teams relied upon third-party connectivity, such as standard stadium and training centre wifi. Now it will have a more secure and reliable connection.

Discussing the tangible benefits he has seen in terms of relaying coaches’ instructions to players, O’Connell says: “I think the research shows that the earlier you give the feedback, the better it is and the better chance you have of seeing a change in behaviour or habit.

“This kind of thing is offering five-star feedback. Players are getting really good feedback that is really accurate. And it is not just feedback on what you thought you saw – you’re giving feedback on what you actually saw.”

The former Irish captain also accepts the need for Irish coaches such as himself to get fully up to speed with the technology in order to ensure its potential benefits are maximised.

“The value it gives us is absolutely incredible. But it is something that we as coaches need to get better at using. It is such a new technology, and some of the opportunities that it can give us are amazing,” he says.

The innovative project has aided the Irish coaching ticket by preventing over-analysis on their behalf, according to defence coach Simon Easterby. “This gives us clarity, and clarity allows you to do things with intent. That’s the bottom line, too, that we don’t want to be over-coaching, and with this, we are making sure we get the right details. So, it leaves no confusion and we end up with real clarity.”

The new 5G MPN technology has been tested in partnership with the Irish rugby team over the course of the past nine months, and its benefits will not just be reaped at the IRFU High Performance Centre. A fully bespoke 5G Connect Van will be driven directly to Ireland’s permanent world cup base in Tours later this week, and will accompany Andy Farrell’s side for the entirety of their campaign.

Recounting the inception of the joint venture between the IRFU and Vodafone, Vinny Hammond recalls providing the technology company with a “horse and cart drawing” of what he initially envisaged this new analytical system being.

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“We didn’t have the expertise to build this, but they clearly did, and it has been a really nice partnership. I would go to them and ask, ‘Could we do this?’, or ‘Could we add this?’, and they could, so it’s great to see it all up and working now,” he says.

Inspired by other professional sports such as cycling and formula one, Hammond discusses how he and his team of analysts are constantly on the lookout for ideas from across the entire professional sports industry which could be successfully implemented into test rugby.

We don’t just want data to drive any kind of decision, but we want data that backs up our decisions...

—  Vinny Hammond, IRFU head of analytics and innovation

“We looked at sports like F1 where they have the ability to make changes on the fly. For example, there is a rain shower coming in, and straight away the tyre strategy changes. If you look at the likes of Verstappen, or even the guys in the Tour de France, they are on the radio constantly being fed information,” he says.

“We have a really strong sense of community among analysts, too. We have colleagues in the Premier League, in the NFL [National Football League in the US], and loads of other places, and we are constantly bashing ideas off one another. Very often, like here, it’s the most random kind of discussions that result in an idea being evolved upon and implemented,” he adds.

Despite the power of this new technology though, Hammond added that the intuition of coaches and players was still to the forefront of the decision-making process. “We don’t just want data to drive any kind of decision, but we want data that backs up our decisions... Some things are above and beyond data. That’s what we are trying to do here, not make decisions based solely off data but to have it sit beside coaches in a way that informs and challenges them.”

With the proliferation of technology within contemporary professional sports, the job of analysts such as Hammond has become all the more important, with masses of data collected and needing to be sifted through. From GPS monitors to microchipped rugby balls, no stone is left unturned in terms of data collection.

“It is a skill in itself as a group of analysts that we have to now know when to feed coaches and players certain data, and when not to. We need to know when to take a backward step and let the data take a back seat. Some coaches have 20 or 30 years of experience, and that means the data should aid the decisions that are made, rather than overriding them,” Hammond says.

“But a World Cup is only every four years, so we aren’t leaving anything to chance. Anything we can do as analysts to make even the most marginal of gains, we will.”