Apple is putting sports analytics in the spotlight with a new UK campaign titled “Apple at Play”, and this time the focus is on England Rugby.
Ahead of the Men’s Six Nations Championship, Apple published a new video showing how the England Rugby team uses iPads and Macs to analyze live match data in real time. And it is far more intense than you might expect.
Inside England rugby’s data operation
The video features Senior Team Analyst Joe Lewis, who walks through what happens behind the scenes during a live match.
Inside the analysis box, the setup is serious:
• Two analysts
• Five coaches
• Seven video angles
• Thousands of live data points
• Seven interconnected laptops
Every carry, tackle, missed tackle, and meter gained is tracked. Data is clipped instantly. Key moments are isolated and pushed directly to coaches.
As Lewis explains, they break everything down to the individual level. How many times a player carried the ball. How effective those carries were. How many meters were gained. Defensive performance. Missed tackles. It is all tracked live.
And it is not just sitting on one screen.
“All the seven laptops are linked up,” Lewis says. The same information is also fed directly to the bench, where iPads are used to quickly show players exactly what needs adjusting.
Real-time decisions under pressure
What makes the video compelling is not just the tech, but the time pressure.
During halftime, analysts have only minutes to turn live data into clear, actionable insights. Clips are trimmed, key plays are highlighted, and players are briefed in the changing room before heading back out.
It is fast. It is intense. And it shows how modern professional sports are as much about data as they are about physical performance.
More Than Just Marketing
Apple’s campaign is clearly designed to highlight the reliability and portability of Macs and iPads in high-pressure environments.
But it also gives a rare look at what elite-level in-game analysis actually looks like. This is not post-match breakdowns done calmly in an office. This is live, rapid decision-making powered by real-time video and performance metrics.
Even if rugby is not your sport, the behind-the-scenes access makes it worth watching.
And it quietly reinforces how iPads have evolved from consumer tablets into essential professional tools across industries.
