What The Data Tells Us About WXV 2023 - Part 3: The Shape of Play

Analyst, writer and coach Sam Larner explores data from WXV

In a 3-part series, coach, analyst and writer Sam Larner, goes through data from the 2023 WXV to look at trends within international women’s rugby. The articles explore territory, entries into the 22 and where teams play on the pitch. In our final article Sam looks at the shape of play.

Thanks to @Oval_Insights, we have a huge amount of data for every game in WXV - over 58,000 data points. I’ve dug through them to see what we can learn and where the game is won and lost.

Part 3: The Shape of Play

We can compare how different teams play. Here we have Colombia and England - nominally the best and worst teams in the WXV.

We can see their carry locations in the image above. Note how there is a difference but it's not that stark. England carry slightly further up the pitch than Colombia do. How do they do that?

The most basic answer is that England play further up the pitch. They kick further up it as well as carry further up it. That's because they win that territorial battle we spoke about in the first part.

That means that when England do carry, they carry into a threat rather out of danger like Colombia. The same is true between Wales and England. The difference is less stark, but England's carries take them into a more dangerous positon.

That is perhaps the biggest key to winning a rugby match. It's all about where you play. If you can tilt the field in your advantage then it all gets easier. If you can't then you're always going uphill. England could do that better than either Wales or Colombia.

Some questions to think about from Sam and Jess:

• If you were to map out your team’s attack, what would it look like?

[Original thread posted on Twitter Jan 2024, version has been edited and published Jan 2024]