There has been nowhere to hide for Otago ITM Cup rugby players during the past three seasons as their every move is closely monitored by the latest technology.
All the Super rugby teams and several ITM Cup teams are using small global positioning software (GPS) trackers, inserted in the players' shirts, to provide information on the distance covered, speeds reached and number of collisions for each player during games and at training.
In Otago's last-minute 37-36 win against Wellington at Westpac Stadium in the capital last month, the players had to use all their energy to get across the line and that extra effort was visible in the GPS statistics.
Utility back Matt Faddes ran 7680m in that game, the most by one player in any game this season, and loose forward Adam Knight was the best of the forwards with 7229m.
The most high-intensity metres covered in one game was 1771m by midfielder Teihorangi Walden - also in the game against Wellington.
Otago utility back Peter Breen said it was good for the players to know if they were working as hard as they thought they were.
''I know the boys enjoy the top speed aspect - there's a bit of competition. The forwards like to see who's been getting around the park more than the other forwards.
''I find when you've got the GPS on you really do empty the tank because you know it's being tracked. I see it as a bit of a challenge as well. You've got it on so you want to work as hard as you can,'' Breen said.
Otago's analysis is undertaken by a group of Otago Polytechnic students who are doing a postgraduate Diploma in Performance Analysis, led by Otago Polytechnic Institute of Sport and Adventure lecturer Hayden Croft.
Mr Croft said many players were interested in what speeds and distances they covered in a game and the conditioning coach used the information to help plan training sessions.
''We're probably one of the top teams in terms of our last 10 minutes [of match performance], so the team is in pretty good physical condition this year,'' he said.
Otago Polytechnic student Stephen Isaac said the main statistics used were distance travelled, high-intensity metres (travelling at more than 15kmh), metres per minute and duration.
''The fullback, wingers and first five-eighth cover the most distance each game and they do the most high-intensity metres as well. We've started trying to integrate the information with game statistics to find relationships,'' Mr Isaac said.
- by David Beck
