Sponsorship activation is about trying to get cut through and make sure your brand is seen as being a supporter of the events and teams it is backing.

At first glance we could only imagine that Sage, Official Insights Partner of Six Nations Rugby, has a greater interest in being liked in England and France than it does in Ireland.

But looking deeper it is the push towards equality that has painted a picture of the best of the best that looks a little different than in local imaginations.

Yesterday it unveiled the first combined men’s and women’s Guinness Six Nations dream team selected using statistical/historic playing data and a sprinkling artificial intelligence.

The all-star team features 11 Grand Slam winners, 6 Test captains, 4 players from the Championship winners, with a combined total of 955 Test caps, but only James Ryan from among the Irish stars to have played through this period.

Sage worked with Opta to use a unique AI powered algorithm analysing player performances from the last four years. This selection process took into account the performance of individual players made during every Championship match since 2020 and assessed their impact; both positive and negative.

Opta analysed 676 Championship players in total, and contenders across both the men (357) and women’s (319) game were ranked, with the top scoring individuals selected for the team.

When it comes to top scorers, Mario Itoje is the only player to have played all 1600 available minutes in the men’s Six Nations this decade, and Sarah Bern has scored at least three more tries than any other prop in the Women’s tournament in the same time period.

Ireland have won 15 games over the four years and England only 10, one fewer than Scotland but the dominant Men’s representation comes from France with Antoine Dupont, Cyril Baille, Gregory Alldritt and Gabrielle Vernier all making the team.

England’s strength comes from the four Women that they have on the team with Jess Breach, Emily Scarratt, Sarah bern and Marlie Packer making the line up. Which is very fair considering they have been unbeaten in the Championship over those four years.

“As a company that understands the power of data and insights, we wanted to discover the best combined team from recent years by removing the subjectivity and use a consistent formula to measure and compare performance,” said Sally Moore, Senior Director Global Sponsorship at Sage.

“In working with the team at Stats Perform, we are proud to champion the top players across the men’s and women’s games and present this in a way never seen before.”

“This is great insight for rugby fans and it shows the level of data insights technology can bring to fans, pundits and media to enhance how we watch and understand the men’s and women’s Guinness Six Nations tournaments.”

“We are proud to partner with Sage in assembling a formidable, combined men’s and women’s Championship team,” added Alex Rice, Chief Commercial Officer at Stats Perform.

“The team has been selected utilising our unrivalled Opta database and unique algorithm, allowing men’s and women’s players to be compared equally for the first time.”

“We are extremely excited to be supporting Sage and Six Nations rugby once again ahead of the 2024 Championships and look forward to another successful iteration of the Championship.”

Sage’s combined Guinness Six Nations dream XV*

15. Stuart Hogg (Scotland),
14. Jess Breach (England)
13. Emily Scarratt (England)
12. Gabrielle Vernier (France)
11. Duhan Van Der Merwe (Scotland)
10. Dan Biggar (Wales)
9. Antoine Dupont (France)

1. Cyril Baille (France)
2. Julien Marchand (France)
3. Sarah Bern (England)
4. Maro Itoje (England)
5. James Ryan (Ireland)
6. Rachel Malcolm (Scotland)
7. Marlie Packer (England)
8.Gregory Alldritt (France)

*Data and insight used from the 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023 men’s and women’s Championships

 

 

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