Ireland take on Wales in their opening game of the Women’s Six Nations on Saturday.

The tournament got off to a start last weekend with France and England dominating their clashes with Wales and Scotland and the games also saw the introduction of new technology.

Smart Ball Technology was trialled for the first time in an international Test match in the Doncaster meeting of England and Scotland and will be trialled in further matches throughout the 2021 Championship.

The introduction of the Gilbert x Sportable smart ball represents a breakthrough in innovation for rugby. It is the first elite, international tournament to use the Ball.

Each match ball is embedded with a tiny tracking chip, which captures every movement on the pitch in real-time The new technology will provide a completely new perspective on player skill and decision making by providing key analysis on the speed of passes, hang-time of box kicks, restarts and distances of kicks.

The aim of this additional insight is to provide coaches and players with an empirical tool to track and develop individual technical skill sets.

Metrics

Metrics from the ball are collected via sensors around the pitch that collate these statistics. These are then presented privately to teams as part of their post-match review. In further phases, fans will be able to watch matches with onscreen graphics showcasing match data provided by the smart ball technology.

“Despite all the challenges of 2021 we’ve been delighted to introduce a series of firsts for this Women’s Six Nations Championship,” said Ben Morel Six Nations Rugby CEO.

“We are constantly looking to break boundaries, take rugby to a new level and to introduce innovative tools which we believe will enhance the development of the game as a whole and allow players and coaches to dial into the intricate analysis.”

“It is fantastic to announce this innovation in the Women’s Six Nations Championship as it represents a big step forward in our goal to transform the way rugby is seen for both the fans and teams,” added Dugal McDonald of Sportable.

“Over the past 6 years we, and our partners Gilbert Rugby, have developed technology that will transform the way people engage with sport.. We are excited to see what the future holds for rugby and this prestigious competition.”

Sport for Business Partners