In elite professional rugby, modern performance environments rely on rapid and accurate data to support decision-making across physical preparation, recruitment, and on-field strategy.
During the past decade, ASM Clermont Auvergne has been right at the forefront when it comes to investing in performance infrastructure, data and technology, backed by its owners the Michelin Group. In this period, it has opened a campus style training centre as well as expanding its off-field performance analysis resources, which includes access to real-time Opta data.
These investments have all played a part in putting the two-time Top 14 Champions at the upper echelons of European club rugby.
Clermont’s Head Performance Analyst, Joe Larkin, has nearly two decades of experience in supporting players and coaching staff to optimise on-field performance. Whilst the identification of performance and tactical insights, which can be applied during training and on matchday, remain his primary objective, the processes he uses to identify those insights are very different today to when he first started working in the sport.
“I’ve worked in rugby a long time, since 2007, when analysis was largely manual video based and focused on post-match review,” says Larkin.
“That still forms a large chunk of our role, however, advances in technology, data integration and automation have shifted the discipline towards real-time insights, predictive modelling and individualised player management.
“The result is a far more general data-driven approach that directly shapes decision making throughout the week and on matchday.”
In this feature, Larkin expands on how Opta data sits right at the heart of this approach, including:
- How Opta Search guides his analysis workflow and helps create strategies for facing each opponent.
- Insights into how in-game data, delivered by Opta Live, is used to highlight trends to communicate to players.
- The growing role of predictive data to better understand match momentum and validate perceptions of in-game performance from the touchline.
Time is Precious: Unlocking Deeper Analysis Through Cutting Manual Workload
From the moment they were initially recruited into elite academies, the vast majority of today’s top rugby professionals have been exposed to detailed analysis of their on-field performance.
This has created a culture in rugby where players want and expect to receive personalised insights into their performance from their club’s analysis department.
“They’ll ask detailed questions, seek personalised insights for themselves and generally want something that’s personalised for them,” explains Larkin, who first joined Clermont in the summer of 2017.
“At times, their appetite for detail means that our role is sometimes to filter what they see, ensuring that they get clear feedback that’s actually going to help their performance for that week or for the next few months.”
Managing player expectations, as well as the demands of the coaching staff, means that the demands on Larkin’s time during Clermont’s weekly match cycle is significant. As a result, reducing his volume of manual work is critical to ensuring that more time can be spent working on identifying the insights which can provide a key performance edge on matchday.
Larkin believes this is a key area where Opta data plays a crucial role.
“Our challenge is always time”, he says.
“We manage large volumes of information, we have short turnaround times and we need to translate complex data into clear, actionable insights for coaches and players.
“Opta data helps us to overcome these challenges by providing standardised event information that speeds up our analysis and reduces our manual workload. It allows us to quickly validate trends, benchmark performance, and focus our time on interpretation rather than data collection.
“Ultimately it ensures that the feedback we deliver is both evidence-based and immediately usable in the performance environment.”
Making The Complex Straightforward for Players and Coaches to Digest
The role of data analysis in rugby can often be twofold: on the one hand it can be used for validating what is seen by the expert eye of a coach, but equally it can also be used to challenge perceptions – so long as the evidence is there to back it up.
At Clermont, Head Coach Christophe Urios works together with Larkin and his team of analysts to develop strategies for facing different domestic and European opponents, with video and data being the key components to identify performance traits which can be backed up with clips to communicate to the playing group.
“The Head Coach, values clear, concise insights that accurately reflect what is happening on the field,” says Larkin.
“The data sometimes confirms what he sees, but it also challenges what he sees, as sometimes in a live setting it’s very hard to see everything on the field.
“Ultimately he wants more information, but also it helps us to plan how we create our strategy for the opposition. We look at them a week in advance and it allows us to deliver targeted, evidence-based insights and then he can show, filter and show certain bits of the players.”
To help deliver these insights, Opta Search is seen as a crucial tool to support Clermont’s pre-match analysis.
Opta Search enables Larkin and the other club analysts to identify trends across multiple games played by each opponent during the season, using aggregated event data, which they can then filter using thousands of different event qualifiers to identify how a team or individual player typically performs during specific phases of play.
Larkin explains: “Opta data, if I include video in that, forms a central pillar to our strategy.
“Opta Search is a powerful query tool. We use it all the time and it allows us to seek deeper answers to questions and add meaningful context to what we see on the field.
“It guides our workflow, it sharpens our decision-making and makes us significantly more efficient as a team.”
The Power of Live Data and Predictive Metrics to Influence In-Game Messaging to Players
As is the case in any sport, events in a live game can sometimes be unpredictable and the live score will not always reflect the true reflection of which team has been in the ascendancy.
Team momentum and the game state can often fluctuate during different periods, which can have a knock-on impact on in-game tactical decision making.
One of the key elements of Larkin’s role on a matchday, from his position in the coaches’ box, is to identify key trends based on what is happening on the field, which can be communicated to the coaches and provide them with an evidence-based picture of what is happening in every area of the field, irrespective of what the scoreboard says.
One of his key supporting matchday tools is Opta Live, which provides a real-time summary of each team’s attacking and defensive performance, in addition to their kicking and set pieces. This information is then used for communicating insights to the coaches and in messages relayed onto the players.
Larkin explains: “While we still code elements for ourselves, Opta Live removes a lot of the manual workload, allowing us to focus on higher value areas during the match.
“It helps us access key information earlier than before. Instead of working purely after the event, which is what we always used to do, we now have real-time support and the coach’s decisions can be grounded in both what we are seeing and what the data is confirming.
“The example during the game that I can think of would be something like our possession stats. We’ll be aware of our possession stats live, but we won’t necessarily be aware of how many tackles that the opposition is making and that can sometimes formulate how we’ll speak to the players at half-time about positive messaging, that they’ll be tired or maybe they’re cracking a bit.
“So these are all things that we can play on and the information is really useful.”
A recent innovation introduced to Opta Live is a range of new OptaAI Predictive metrics, including Live Win Probability, a Score Predictor, Expected Points (xP) and Momentum.
The availability of these metrics has provided another layer of insight which is being used within Clermont’s Coaches’ Box to communicate positive messages to players – particularly when the data highlights when the team is on top during a game.
“The models don’t replace our own analysis, but they compliment what we’re already thinking,” says Larkin.
“They provide context, they validate what we’re seeing.
“Expected Points helps to understand the momentum of the game. We can sometimes say that even though we’re not on the scoreboard doing brilliantly, we know that we should be scoring because we’re in very strong positions during the match.
“We can use it in a positive way: A lot of it is how we can send messages to the players that allow performance to be either better or to continue being good.”
Delivering Actionable Information, Enhancing Performance
Rugby is constantly evolving, which means spotting wider trends in the sport early and preparing for them is integral to achieving sustained long-term success.
In addition to RugbyHub, Opta Search and Opta Live, Clermont also utilise raw Opta data which enables Larkin and the other data analysts to manipulate it in Power BI for more specific team requirements like “injury statuses, recruitment or future trends in the game”.
Indeed Larkin believes that it is the combination of raw data, predictive data and analysis software being used together where Clermont is extracting the maximum value to help the club manage rugby’s constant cycle of evolution and help ensure its analysis continues to have a positive impact on on-field performance.
“All Opta data together creates a powerful data set”, says Larkin.
“Tools like Rugby Hub, Opta Live and Opta Search allow us to analyse our own performance, track trends and identify areas for improvement.
“We also use it big time in recruitment and it allows us to track players from around the world that we maybe wouldn’t be able to see using our own manpower.
“This combination enables us to prepare more effectively, make informed decisions, and give coaches and players actionable information that directly enhances both training and matchday performance.”
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