It is no longer a secret, technology is unanimous in the world of sports. The Tech invites itself to all types of terrain, and increasingly in the center of the oval. SAS, a leader in analysis, and the French Rugby Federation (FFR) formalize their partnership.
The idea for this collaboration came from Christophe Galthié, coach of the France rugby XV and his staff, just after the 2021 Six Nations Tournament. He discussed with the teams of SAS, a specialist in data analysis and management, to use them to improve . Blues performance.
Analytics? It is the use of data to improve the performance of a team, in this case the XV of France in rugby. In other sports, this method has already been around since the early 2000s, such as football. Also called “global method”, for the round ball. “The French Rugby Federation had a lot of data. With an already established team looking to structure this data a bit. Rugby is a multi-coach sport. (…) We came up with our Viya platform which made it possible to restructure the data,” explains Jean-François Sebastian, CEO of SAS France, on the set of Tech&Co.
The development of GPS data allows, for example, to know the individual performances such as calculating the heart rate, the distances covered or the speed of the players, all this to optimize the performance of the Blues. As the CEO of SAS France reminds us: “The (Fabien Galthie) He had a very strong desire to develop analytics and make France the world leader in analytics for his team.”
A tool that improves player performance
In professional sports, performance requires increasingly precise information about players or athletes to facilitate the work of physical trainers. In rugby, muscular work is essential and increasingly at the highest level. These data allow us to know the daily weight of a player, his fat mass or his muscle mass. And depending on the results, the physical trainer gives more or less workload to the player. Individual work that brings better collective results.
This tool also allows you to develop collective game actions such as touch, scrum or even kicks. A rugby team is made up of players who play by sectors. The obverses (n°1 to 8) and the reverses (n°9 to 15). Group and specific game sequences for very specific game sectors.
“We started with the touchline with the touchline coach, Karim Ghezal, about the throw-in, the speed of the ball, the positioning of the players, etc. And then we tackled the scrum, the We even went so far as to analyze the referee’s game, knowing what he is sensitive to, on the cards distributed or not”, underlines Jean-François Sebastian. These elements, once collected, allow coaches to study and optimize player performance.
This follow-up with this tool is a blessing for Christophe Galthié and his players who have been walking on water since November 6, 2021, 13 consecutive matches without defeat and a 2022 Grand Slam at stake. Technology is already part of the world of sports and allows professional athletes to achieve better performance, as the XV of France has demonstrated for more than a year.
Source: BFM TV
