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Innocent Kurira, Sports Reporter
THE Zimbabwe Rugby Union (ZRU) has adopted performance analysis for all its national teams in a move meant to ensure they perform at the highest levels.

Performance analysis is a modern tool used throughout all sporting activities as a method of improving the overall performance of a team or players.

It uses video and data analysis. It is used to assist coaches with pitch side analysis of how the team performs in all areas. It also helps with team strategy, implementation and review.

Rugby ball – Image taken from Shutterstock

Performance analysis allows coaches to objectively assess performance of the team while identifying the opposition’s strength and weaknesses and opportunities to exploit these in game situations.

Importantly, it effectively requires comprehensive analysis on individual and collective action which becomes the athlete’s personal footprint and can be used to gauge performance.

Once on record, rugby players can use these statistics to further their training or as proof of the level they are at in terms of performance.

The union has an agreement with a leading UK sports coding company, which offers the software that the analyst will use in coding rugby games thereby producing statistics, video analysis and trend analysis that will be used to evaluate the national rugby teams’ performances.

In line with the drive to improve how rugby is played by all the ages across the country, the union is also offering performance analysis services to rugby playing schools.

“The service has two packages: Package (A) involves video analysis where you provide your video footage. Firstly, team performance analysis which will involve video analysis and statistics for the game played.

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This will cost US$120. Individual player performance will involve individual player statistics and video footage of the game. This service will cost US$30 for individual players and a flat fee of US$300 for the whole team.

“Package (B) involves video footage recordings done by the union, this service has no fixed cost as that will be determined by the following variables, distance, accommodation, travel and subsistence and number of games recorded.

“Once the footage is recorded, analysis can then be made and an email is directed to the coaches and players to view at the host’s domain account online,” ZRU said. – @innocentskizoe