Following rugby with AI: how to get more from the game you love
Rugby inspires a particular kind of devotion. Fans will happily debate a scrum decision for a week, drive hundreds of miles for an away fixture and explain, at length, why their sport is the finest team game ever invented. It is also, whisper it, a game that plenty of loyal followers only half understand. The laws are famously complicated, and they change more often than most people realise.
This makes rugby an ideal sport to explore with AI. Think of it as a patient clubhouse companion who has read every law book, remembers every tour and never minds being asked what on earth just happened at the breakdown. You type a question the way you would say it, and you get a plain answer back.
Here is a framework of five things you can ask about, with example prompts to copy or adapt. They lean towards rugby union, though everything here works just as well for rugby league.
New to this? How to use the examples below.
Throughout this post you will see lines written in italics inside quotation marks. Those are examples of what you might type, or say out loud, to an AI such as ChatGPT. They are starting points rather than magic words. There is no wrong way to phrase a question, so please do not worry about getting it exactly right.
Change them to suit yourself. Swap in your own team, your own garden, your own situation. Where you see something in [square brackets], that is simply a gap for you to fill in with your own details.
You decide how deep to go. If an answer is too complicated, say “explain that more simply”. If it is too basic, say “tell me more about that”. You can keep asking follow-up questions until it makes sense, and nothing is ever waiting on you.
The history
Rugby’s story is full of wonderful material. There is the legend of William Webb Ellis picking up the ball at Rugby School, the great split of 1895 that created rugby league, the long amateur era and the sudden arrival of professionalism in the 1990s. There are the touring sides, the anthems, the rivalries between nations that go back more than a century.
AI will walk you through any of it, at whatever depth you fancy. You can ask for the broad sweep or zoom in on one famous match, one tour or one era you remember from your own youth.
‘Tell me the story of how rugby union and rugby league became separate sports. What caused the split of 1895 and what differences grew between the two games?’
‘I remember watching the British and Irish Lions in the 1970s. Remind me why those tours were so celebrated and what made that era special.’
The Rugby World Cup is a relative newcomer, first held in 1987, yet it has already gathered a rich store of famous moments. If you watched one of the great finals, AI will happily relive it with you and fill in the details memory has smoothed over.
‘Tell me the story of England winning the Rugby World Cup in 2003, from the build-up through the final itself, and explain why that team is still so fondly remembered.’
How the game works today
The rugby calendar takes some untangling. Club leagues, European competitions, the Six Nations, autumn internationals, summer tours and a World Cup every four years all jostle for space, and the club and international seasons overlap in ways that confuse everyone. If you have ever wondered why your club is missing half its players on an international weekend, this is why.
Ask AI to lay it all out for you. It can explain how each competition works, how they fit together across the year and the practical side of following it all, from finding fixtures to knowing where matches are shown.
‘Explain how the rugby union season is organised in England, including how the club league works, what the European competitions are and where the Six Nations and autumn internationals fit in. Assume I am starting from scratch.’
‘I want to follow England and my local club properly this season. What is the best way to keep up with fixtures, and what are my options for watching or listening to matches?’
The game is bigger than the men’s professional sport, of course. Women’s rugby is growing at remarkable speed, and the community game continues in towns and villages across the country every weekend. AI can help you follow either one.
‘How is women’s rugby organised in England, from the international side down to club level, and what would be a good way for a newcomer to start following it?’
The people
Rugby produces characters like few other sports. Giant forwards with gentle manners, mercurial fly-halves, coaches who talk in riddles and referees who become as famous as the players. AI can give you a proper portrait of any of them, from the legends of the amateur era to the stars your grandchildren follow on their phones.
It is also very good at explaining what each player on the pitch actually does, which is particularly useful in a sport where the number on the shirt tells you the job.
‘Tell me about a great Welsh fly-half from the golden era of the 1970s. What made him special, and how would his style compare with the way the position is played now?’
‘Explain what each position in a rugby union team does, from 1 to 15, in a sentence or two each. Make it vivid so I can remember who does what.’
The technicalities
Let us be honest, this is the section rugby needs most. Rucks, mauls, the breakdown, why the scrum collapsed, what the referee meant by ‘not releasing’, why a perfectly good-looking try was pulled back. Even lifelong fans mutter to each other in the stands, hoping someone nearby knows.
AI is a superb translator of rugby’s laws and jargon. You can ask it to explain a rule from first principles, or describe a specific incident from a match and ask what the referee was likely thinking. Keep asking follow-ups until it makes sense. It will never sigh at you.
‘Explain the difference between a ruck and a maul in plain English, including what players are allowed to do in each and the most common penalties that come from them.’
‘How does scoring work in rugby union, and how is it different in rugby league? Explain each way of scoring and roughly how teams decide when to kick for goal rather than push for a try.’
Keep AI within reach while you watch. When the whistle goes and the commentators start talking over each other, describe what you saw and ask what the decision meant. It is like having a friendly former referee on the sofa beside you.
‘The referee has just penalised a player at the breakdown for “hands in the ruck”. What does that mean, what was the player trying to get away with and why is it against the laws?’
The future
Rugby is changing faster than almost any sport. Laws are trialled and adjusted every season, much of it driven by player safety and the wish for a faster, more watchable game. Competitions are reshaped, new formats appear and the professional game keeps evolving. Asking AI about all this is a fine way to understand the debates you hear on commentary.
Because the laws move quickly, ask AI to be clear about what is settled and what is still a trial, and check anything important against an official source.
‘What changes to rugby union’s laws are currently being trialled or discussed, and why? Tell me which are about safety and which are about speeding up the game, and be clear about anything you are not certain of.’
The trick that makes every answer better
Here is the technique I recommend more than any other. Before AI answers, ask it to question you first.
‘I would like help following rugby more closely. Before you suggest anything, please ask me whatever you need to know about the teams I follow, how well I know the laws and what I most enjoy about the game.’
The difference is remarkable. Instead of a general answer written for any fan anywhere, you get something shaped around your team, your level of knowledge and the parts of the game you love. It takes a minute longer and it is almost always worth it.
One honest note about facts and figures
AI is a wonderful explainer, though it can get sporting facts, scores and statistics wrong, and it will sometimes sound very sure while doing so. Treat any specific result, record or date as a starting point, and check anything that matters against an official source such as your club or the sport’s governing body. For understanding the laws, the history and the language of the game, it is hard to beat.
Rugby rewards those who understand it, and understanding is now a question away. Start with the law that has always puzzled you.
Want to try this with your own team?
Sitting down with the rugby you love, on your own device, and working through it properly is exactly what one-to-one sessions with Kevin are for. Bring your team, your questions and your memories.
Kevin also runs free library presentations across Norfolk. Come along, see AI in action and ask about anything you have read in the blog, including this.
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