NEWRY-based STATSports has confirmed five more international rugby teams have signed up to use its innovative GPS player monitoring technology.
The addition of Canada, Fiji, Samoa, Uruguay and Russia means a total of 12 out of the 20 teams competing at the Rugby World Cup are now on the books of the company.
Ireland, England, France and South Africa are among the teams already employing the Newry tech firm’s APEX system in Japan.
The technology tracks players both during practice sessions and games, providing real-time feedback to coaching staff and players.
The company’s co-founder and chief operations officer, Sean O’Connor said the fact a majority of teams in the competition now use its tech is a huge matter of pride for the Irish company.
“Our technology gives an unrivalled insight into how a player is performing; from distance covered to metres per minute, dynamic stress load to maximum intensity periods. Equipped with this data, the teams can manage players more effectively during games as well as during rest and recovery to make sure they are operating at their peak.
“That is particularly key during the Rugby World Cup where turnaround times can be short and players are involved in a number of high intensity games over a prolonged period,” he said.
“Rugby is in our DNA and was one of the first sports we worked with in the early days of STATSports so it is an especially proud moment to add such prestigious international teams to our client list.”
That client list already includes the biggest clubs in the premier league, as well as teams in the NFL and NBA. The latest investors in STATSports include Man City and Liverpool stars Raheem Sterling and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
Last year the company announced plans to create 237 jobs as part of an ongoing multi-million pound expansion.
