Rugby World Cup Preview Lunch
Eddie will be hosting our special preview lunch where we’ll hear from him about how he’s prepared his team for this showpiece tournament. With the ever-increasing role of data and analytics in rugby, he’ll also be giving us some valuable insights about how fact-based decision making is driving his coaching strategy – and whether predictive analytics can really shape the outcome of the games.
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We’ve interviewed CI Group CEO, David Watt, to ask him more about this event…
David, how do you feel about having Eddie as guest speaker at the lunch on 7th September?
I’m thrilled that Eddie has been able to fit us in, so close to the start of the RWC on 20th September. We can’t wait to hear some of his reflections on the highs and lows he’s experienced as a coach for Japan and England since he last saw us, as well as learning some invaluable insights about the forthcoming tournament.
Why have you invited Eddie to host another Changing Behaviours event?
Guests who joined us at our 2016 Changing Behaviours dinner remember what a fascinating and insightful speaker he was. And how relevant his message was to their business. Clients repeatedly told me how candid and inspirational he was, so we’ve asked him to join us again as a popular and memorable individual.
It’s great to hear about the RWC, but how is what Eddie has to say relevant to CIG and its clients?
It couldn’t be more relevant to our group and its growing capabilities. Eddie and his coaching team have used data and analytics to dig right down to the detail of every training session, delivering insights with mathematical precision – this has been crucial to shaping their strategy, picking a high-performance team and getting the best out of everybody’s skill set.
Similarly, with our recent acquisition of Pearl Analytics, this has become a key focus for our business. We now use data and its analysis at the core of the Group, to help us to understand our Client’s customers and develop more powerful strategies to reach and engage them.
So, data will drive strategy for the CI Group?
Absolutely, data is king and the strategy for our business, our recruitment, and our offering to our clients will be based on ‘fact-based decision making’. I believe a business that acts without key analysis of data will struggle to survive. This is absolutely central to our business model.
And, you think data will ultimately drive the strategy for the RWC?
Totally – they’ve amassed data from monitoring the players, from performance, to recovery rates, to risk as well as observing their competition and this will play a key role.
Finally, David, who do you think will win the RWC and why?
I think New Zealand. They deliver consistent quality but also demonstrate the ability to adapt, which is exactly what a successful team and business needs to do.