Newry based STATSports is to become the official high-performance supplier of the All Blacks, the most successful national men’s rugby team of all time.
STATSports will provide their cutting-edge GPS performance technology to the All Blacks, All Blacks Sevens and Black Ferns Sevens on a long-term deal until 2024.
Trackers will be worn by the players during training and matches, allowing coaches to track over 200 metrics live including distance, speed, intensity and collisions throughout the games, leading to live decisions in training and on matchday based on the data.
The company now partners with four of the top five teams in World Rugby men’s international rankings in South Africa, the All Blacks, England, and Ireland.
In football, the technology is used daily by the best players in the world, including Cristiano Ronaldo, Megan Rapinoe, Lionel Messi, Alex Morgan, Mo Salah and Neymar, plus top European teams including Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Juventus and PSG.
On the international stage Brazil, England and Belgium also use the technology, while so too does India Cricket and the New York Yankees.
The long-term goal is for STATSports and the All Blacks to make their technology available to all aspiring New Zealanders at every level of rugby, with the technology allowing New Zealand coaching staff the chance to track the player development at all ages.
Last year Clubforce teamed up with STATSports in a move that will advance the creation of a sports technology ecosystem that will be accessible to all clubs and not just for those teams at the elite end of sport.
The company also partnered with Arsenal to make a version of the technology available in the consumer market, a campaign that was subsequently the centre of a US consumer advertising campaign.
“This is another great milestone in the sustained global expansion of the STATSports network,” said co-founder Sean O’Connor.
“We’ve worked with rugby clients all over the world for several years but taking our relationship with the All Blacks to the next level as their official high performance partner benefits both parties.”
“Their pedigree and success in world rugby across men’s and women’s teams is second to none. And with every new sports team we partner it enables us to cement and develop our technology and take all our athletes and sporting federations to the next level.”
“We’re looking forward to developing our relationship with STATSports and have been impressed with their technology – not least in recent years,” added Richard Thomas, Chief Commercial Officer for New Zealand Rugby.
“We look forward to welcoming them to the All Blacks family and in turn, we’re delighted to be part of their incredible network of top international sporting teams.”
