Jonah Lomu provided more than his fair share of memorable All Blacks moments. Photo / Photosport
Jonah Lomu provided more than his fair share of memorable All Blacks moments. Photo / Photosport
Two Kiwi blokes started a project of passion three years ago - Rugby Database - a digital directory of every first-class rugby union game played both in New Zealand and abroad by national and provincial teams and players — and that’s just to start with.
The project has created a blueprint for other teams and countries to follow suit.
In time, the database would be expanded to include records of overseas teams, to ensure a full career record for the hundreds of New Zealand players that have played offshore.
Essentially an “ESPN cricinfo type database”, but for rugby, Rugby Database would help settle those pub arguments between mates or simply answer any curiosity when supporting a team or watching a game.
If you want to know what Daniel Carter’s career record is against the Wallabies or the Blues, you will find it Rugby Database.
If you want to know how many tries Christian Cullen scored for the Central Vikings in 1997, you will find it there too.
“I love stats, and [my silent website partner] loves computer programming and web development - so I guess we’re playing to our strengths and doing something we both enjoy,” one of the authors Steffan Robinson said.
“We both work full-time jobs and find it’s a great wind-down tool at the end of a long day. We have over 16,000 games logged, and over 15,000 player profiles now and are probably even more excited for what’s to come.”
He said that the purpose of the site was to provide rugby statistics that did not already exist publicly, and make them more accessible online for all rugby fans to enjoy.
It was also a race against time to digitally document the years gone by before old annuals, yearbooks and records were lost .
Christian Cullen in action for the Central Vikings in 1997. Photo / Photosport
“The question was, how do we take that data and make it more approachable for fans? The internet offers a much better platform than old reference books to organise the data in different ways. The site really invites you to explore,” Robinson said.
“It’s a virtual warehouse of statistics, that will eventually cover every player who has ever played a first-class game of rugby.
“Every page that you click on is hyperlinked. When you go to Jonah Lomu’s page, you are a click away from seeing who else was in that 1995 Rugby World Cup team with him. You can go further and break down who he played all of his career games both for and against.
“Or you can explore through the vast lineages of the Whitelock and Going families. It invites that kind of exploration in ways that are just not possible on the printed page.”
At the site’s inception, there was no other site that had historical rugby stats.
You couldn’t find Colin Meads’ or Richie McCaw’s full career stats on the internet.
The majority of historical stats existed only on paper, or on old microfilm tucked away in unreachable parts of libraries.
“So, hopefully, we’re making these records more accessible for the everyday fan,” Robinson said.
“We get a lot of emails from old players, or from whānau and friends about their dads or brothers who have played. A lot of these people also send us biographical updates which is a huge value add for us. We are a reference site. We want to get it right. It’s important to this person and this family.”
Several different versions of the site have existed over the past few years, with changes stemming towards their goal - the ultimate user experience.
“A lot of conversations would come from a rugby fan view, statistically, but it would then need to be seen through a computer programming view and how we portray that on the site.
“The whole site has been built from scratch and is very bespoke, which gives us a pretty free reign to structure things how we want.
“We’re constantly throwing around new stats ideas, and how we can keep things fresh and engaging for the user.
“We typically work in reverse for modern-day relevancy, and add in data from years gone by in blocks of 5-10 years at a time. So if you don’t find what you’re looking for, rest assured it won’t be too far away.”
The pair have received a lot of offers to help and say there are countless things they could always use a hand with.
“But it has to be done in the right way, without compromising the integrity of the database.
“There are obviously costs involved with running and maintaining the site. Ultimately, we are self-funded and we have a few Patreon supporters who contribute each month. Whether it be sponsorship or donations, we’re open to ideas that could help support the site financially to ensure its long-term future.”
They’re looking to establish a network of extremely accurate volunteer researchers who have a good knowledge of players and are in it for the right reasons.
“For example, if you had a particular interest in a current competition, e.g. Japanese Top League, this would be a big help.
“At present it’s just one of us researching and adding data onto the site, as we haven’t been able to nail down a secure option for other people to log in and assist yet.”
The whole project would be made easier if unions and competitions were more open to sharing their information - helping preserve the game’s history.
“We’d love to keep the conversation open and work in partnership with them, and are happy for them to use us as a basis for their records.”
With the ever-increasing number of New Zealand players playing overseas, there is still a tsunami of statistics for the pair to add in.
Rugby Database have just started tracking the major overseas competitions - English Premiership, French Top 14, United Rugby Championship, Japanese Top League, and Major League Rugby.
These competitions will be results only for now until they establish a decent data framework.
There’s also still the small task of completing another 100-plus years of New Zealand provincial rugby players, that are yet to go live on the website.
“The women’s game is definitely on the rise in terms of popularity, so it is also extremely important that we record this, and we’re working very hard on adding them onto the site as well. We have the past five years’ worth of Farah Palmer Cup and a complete data set on the Black Ferns,” Robinson says.
“Rugby is a constant year-round sport these days, so with future games and around 150 years of rugby already played we still have a huge task on our hands - but wouldn’t have it any other way!”
For more information or to take a statistics dive, find Rugby Database on Facebook and Twitter where they often post niche stats from recent games or head to rugbydatabase.co.nz.
Jesse Wood is a multimedia journalist based in Te Awamutu. He joined the Te Awamutu Courier and NZME in 2020.
