Chapter 4: Focus on player development and the founding of BFSA.

Working in professional rugby was definitely the place where I learnt most about analysis. Heading up the London Irish academy analysis, we won the academy premiership in 2016 which was a great moment from some hard work with some great people. I learnt a huge amount working from some highly skilled coaches who went onto coach at premiership level in Nick Kennedy, Declan Danaher, Paul Hodgson and James Lightfoot Brown among others. I also got to work next to some serious operators in Brendan Venter, Clark Laidlaw and George Skivington among others.

One of the big things you learn working in an academy was focusing on using video analysis for player development rather than assessment of performance. Something BFSA targets to this day is we judge ourselves on outcomes on the pitch, not just how good our stats are displayed on a sheet.

The club went through a crazy period with the first team getting relegated and then promoted back to the prem in my 2 season there.

In my second season, I began working with loan clubs to help improve how they used analysis and reduce duplication of work. This work of improving analysis departments was one of my favourite parts of my job setting up clubs for long term success.

This is what BF Sports Analysis was born from, the enjoyment of that work and that clientele of semi-pro/high level amateur teams.

Chapter 5: How Playbook happened & the psychological impact of analysis

This chapter is about my time with Poland Rugby.

This was a blank canvas opportunity to mould the analysis the way I envisaged, which was a very direct analysis method with a new coach & limitations on time compared to the academy I was in before.

Given the language barrier & the new attack system, it made sense to use what I now call ‘BFSA Playbook’. This was the most visual & direct way to get our message across to the players.

In Poland, I learned how effective & valuable animated playbooks can be, particularly in a situation with low prep time. This is why BFSA Playbook has become a central part of our services.

“It’s not what you say, it’s what they hear”

After losing our first 2 games of the season we were to play Portugal who were 11 places ahead in the world rankings.

In terms of analysis, we had to target this game psychologically and analytically.

In the early part of the week we addressed Portugal’s strength (kick return) & motivated players to improve our exits. Later in the week, we highlighted Portugal’s relative weakness (contact). Our players improved their confidence having planned for Portugal’s strengths & in the knowledge that Portugal’s weakness was Poland’s strength.

On matchday we built more confidence by showing players a highlight reel of their last 2 games. We set it up by playing it in a dark room, minimising distractions.

Once the motivational video was shown, the captain stood up and stuck his hand in the middle to set up a huddle. It was extremely powerful. The players got directly on the bus from that meeting to the stadium.

We steamed ahead early in the game putting Portugal under pressure & taking a big lead. Unfortunately, this isn’t the happy ending you’re imagining as we got a red for a head butt & lost in the last play of the game.

Nevertheless, it was great to use analysis in such a way to impact players emotionally, positively & negatively in this case (over-performance/over excitement leading to a head butt).

At BFSA, we understand the impact analysis has psychologically on people. We help our clients use analysis to effect that positively.

Chapter 6: Golf and the role of the analyst

Golf has always been a big part of my life stemming from family history. My grandad won 10 All Ireland Medals as a player as well as Senior Cups and Barton Shields with Sutton Golf Club .

He was also the president of the Golfing Union of Ireland in 1983.

I think the sport where role of effectively an analyst is the best used is golf. I see the role of the analyst as similar to a caddy in golf.

The caddy is the right hand man of the golfer, helps him pick the right club, studies the course, knows your distances, knows when to let you trust your gut feel vs when to say something.

A good analyst helps you spend your training time wisely, helps you select and recruit the right players, knows your limits and knows how to help pick up a team or coach when they’re down. Which is what we do at BF Sports Analysis.

Chapter 7: Sporting Union Agen