Harrogate RUFC embracing Artificial Intelligence in pursuit of promotion back to National Two North

Long before he got the reins to his own club, Harrogate RUFCs first ever full-time director of rugby, Jake Brady, had decided he was going to embrace it.

In fact, he was still general manager at Leeds Tykes when the seeds were sewn about how he would use it to inform his decision-making when he stepped down two divisions in the summer to take over at Rudding Lane.

“It was a guy from Bath University who got in touch with me on LinkedIn last year, he needed a bit of help developing an AI programme,” begins Brady.

“We had lots of Zoom calls about how I would use it as a rugby coach and they developed it from there. And it’s been awesome.”

Brady is using AI for statistical analysis of his team’s performance in Regional North East One, English rugby’s fifth tier.

“They code all the games, give you the stats and the read-outs,” he explains.

“I set the squad some targets in pre-season that I wanted them to focus on, one was defensive targets; completion percentage, penalty counts that we give, set-piece, scrum and lineout and a target on how we exit our territory.

“After every game I’m reviewing the progress against that metric. The time it saves a human having to stay up all night working it out is really helpful.

“We get it Sunday morning first thing, or even Saturday night. They’re secretive about how they do it, but they’ve trained AI to watch a rugby game and give you all the stats from it and all the players’ individual clips.

“All players have access to the online platform to go and watch their own clips and you even get a WhatsApp saying ‘Hello Jake, your game versus Heath and all your involvements are ready to watch’.

“I’ve graphed it out and you can see some decent improvements in all areas; in defence for example, we were at 88 per cent tackle completion last Saturday at Heath, our target is 90 per cent. At the start of the season we were down in the mid-70s.”

A glance at the scoreline would suggest that AI’s involvement in rugby union is not foolproof. Harrogate lost the game 13-5, but they were the first team to restrict the unbeaten league leaders to just one try – which did not materialise until the last few minutes - and the basic four points for a victory.

“I doesn’t tell you everything,” acknowledges Brady. “It gives you the numbers but obviously there’s a lot of context around that as well; opponents, the weather etc.

“You’ve got to look at it with the understanding of how you’re playing the game. It’s a really good tool that informs training on a Tuesday and a Thursday, and selection on a Saturday, who’s playing well, who’s not playing well.

“But it’s not going to coach the team for you.”

Their rivals vying for promotion to National Two North may scoff - second-placed Ilkley among them - given Harrogate have lost twice in their opening seven games and are eight points off top spot.

But Brady - after two season-long promotion battles with Leeds, lost and then won - knows it is all about the long game.

“We pushed Heath close on Saturday, but they deserved it,” says Brady, whose team return to action after a week off when they host Ilkley this Saturday (2pm).

“We lost to Penrith, second game of the season. That was a difficult game for us that came just a little too early in our progress. If we were to play that game this Saturday, home or away, I’m confident we’d have no issues.”

Ilkley head to Rudding Lane four points better off than ‘Gate in the table having won six of their opening seven league fixtures this term.

Their one defeat came away at Blaydon following a run of five consecutive victories, though they bounced straight back with a 43-26 home success over Cleckheaton last time out.