'Will we have an AI coach at Sale? Yes': Sharks seek artificial edge

Sale Sharks co-owner Simon Orange has identified a company he believes can improve the Gallagher PREM club’s use of artificial intelligence to help coaches make decisions under intense pressure.

The company chosen by Orange, who sold his investment business for £1 billion last year, will spend up to 90 days at the Sharks, looking into how their software can generate key information to deliver advice about decisions the coaches need to make, including during matches.

Around the world, leading rugby unions and clubs have increased their reliance on statistical information in key areas such as player performance, injury prevention, tactical analysis strategy, talent identification and recruitment, which AI can be used to analyse. It is predicted that thanks to the increasing influence of AI, the sport will include sophisticated real-time analysis tools and enhanced prediction programmes to help coaches make important in-game decisions.

Far from being worried about being supplanted by AI, Alex Sanderson, Sharks director of rugby, has welcomed the move and said: “Will we have an AI coach at Sale? Yes and I see it as another tool. AI cannot capture team spirit or create an environment, it can just help you with decisions. We are onto a company that Simon (Orange, the club owner) found and they spend 90 days with you and are able to input all this data and it can somehow help you make decisions under pressure. Decisions about intensity over recovery and training session lengths. I may have a look at it this summer and see what comes off it.

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“I was talking to Steven Borthwick (England head coach) about coaching and we went into AI and all that stuff. It is revolutionising the financial world and my brother (former England captain Pat) works in the high-end banking sector and he is all over this. He pays a guy half a million quid just to type data into the AI software and he sent the guy here to see us and he was wickedly intelligent but couldn’t fathom how to use the data for rugby needs at the moment.

“You can’t ignore it and you have to embrace it and be ahead of the curve. I know what my brother is doing is different because it is all about figures but there is a probability curve and all of it is influenced by world economics with lots of factors to be taken into consideration.

“In a closed environment with enough data (like a rugby club) I don’t see why it can’t be the case. We have the data and the metrics and it is about cross-referencing all that and seeing if the computer comes up with some suggestions as another layer and tool of information. It is not going to take over coaching.

“Who knows what could happen because we do a lot with stats already, that’s already there and it is about using it better. We use a lot of it in presentations now with slides and clips of matches along with note-taking. This would be a potentially bigger investment in how it can affect coaching decisions.”