Verusco: Difference between revisions
→History: Add NZR/All Blacks licensing agreement and 2003–2011 Rugby World Cup coverage |
→History: Add staff and turnover figures, match volume, Super Rugby franchise coverage, and TryMaker product details |
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Verusco Technologies grew out of a video and statistical analysis system developed during the 1990s by George Serrallach, a lecturer in the biotechnology department at Massey University in Palmerston North who had previously built a similar analysis system for association football.<ref name="ClubRugby2021">{{Cite web |last=clubrugby |date=2021-11-06 |title=George Serrallach and the Evolution of Rugby Analysis |url=https://clubrugby.nz/wp/2021/11/07/george-serrallach-and-the-evolution-of-rugby-analysis/ |access-date=2024-10-11 |website=ClubRugby.nz |language=en-NZ}}</ref> Serrallach was introduced to rugby union by All Blacks assistant coach Wayne Smith in 1996, after which the analysis system began to be adapted for the sport.<ref name="ClubRugby2021" /> With the assistance of Massey University lecturer David Hadfield, who helped turn the system into a commercial product, the business was incorporated that year as AnalySport Limited. It was renamed Verusco Technologies in 2000, a name said to derive from a word meaning "truth".<ref name="ClubRugby2021" /> | Verusco Technologies grew out of a video and statistical analysis system developed during the 1990s by George Serrallach, a lecturer in the biotechnology department at Massey University in Palmerston North who had previously built a similar analysis system for association football.<ref name="ClubRugby2021">{{Cite web |last=clubrugby |date=2021-11-06 |title=George Serrallach and the Evolution of Rugby Analysis |url=https://clubrugby.nz/wp/2021/11/07/george-serrallach-and-the-evolution-of-rugby-analysis/ |access-date=2024-10-11 |website=ClubRugby.nz |language=en-NZ}}</ref> Serrallach was introduced to rugby union by All Blacks assistant coach Wayne Smith in 1996, after which the analysis system began to be adapted for the sport.<ref name="ClubRugby2021" /> With the assistance of Massey University lecturer David Hadfield, who helped turn the system into a commercial product, the business was incorporated that year as AnalySport Limited. It was renamed Verusco Technologies in 2000, a name said to derive from a word meaning "truth".<ref name="ClubRugby2021" /> | ||
From 2000, Verusco held a licensing agreement to provide performance analysis to the All Blacks and New Zealand Rugby, a relationship that continued across the 2003, 2007 and 2011 Rugby World Cups.<ref name="NZHerald2011">{{cite news |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/abs-pull-the-plug-on-high-tech-video-analysts/LQVAE7Z5VZ42DQSVO2XA2VHHKU/ |title=ABs pull the plug on high-tech video analysts |work=Herald on Sunday |publisher=The New Zealand Herald |date=31 December 2011 |access-date=9 September 2026 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> | From 2000, Verusco held a licensing agreement to provide performance analysis to the All Blacks and New Zealand Rugby, a relationship that continued across the 2003, 2007 and 2011 Rugby World Cups.<ref name="NZHerald2011">{{cite news |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/abs-pull-the-plug-on-high-tech-video-analysts/LQVAE7Z5VZ42DQSVO2XA2VHHKU/ |title=ABs pull the plug on high-tech video analysts |work=Herald on Sunday |publisher=The New Zealand Herald |date=31 December 2011 |access-date=9 September 2026 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> At its peak in the mid-2000s, the company employed around 55 staff and had an annual turnover of approximately NZ$3 million,<ref name="ClubRugby2021" /> analysing about 190 matches a year by 2005, including around 60 international tests<ref name="ClubRugby2021" /> and, in 2007 alone, 286 matches.<ref name="ClubRugby2021" /> By 2006 the company was supplying analysis to 11 of the 14 Super Rugby franchises.<ref name="ClubRugby2021" /> Its principal product, TryMaker, was offered in two forms: a "Pro Elite" service coded by Verusco's own analysts, and a "Plus" version that allowed clients to code matches themselves.<ref name="ClubRugby2021" /> | ||
In 2013, the company was acquired by Prozone.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2013-11-21 |title=Prozone buys All Blacks rugby analysis business {{!}} TheBusinessDesk.com |url=https://www.thebusinessdesk.com/yorkshire/news/544774-prozone-buys-all-blacks-rugby-analysis-business |access-date=2024-10-11 |website=Yorkshire |language=en}}</ref> | In 2013, the company was acquired by Prozone.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2013-11-21 |title=Prozone buys All Blacks rugby analysis business {{!}} TheBusinessDesk.com |url=https://www.thebusinessdesk.com/yorkshire/news/544774-prozone-buys-all-blacks-rugby-analysis-business |access-date=2024-10-11 |website=Yorkshire |language=en}}</ref> | ||