Why I created RugbyScores.live
I didn’t create RugbyScores.live to compete with Sky, the BBC, Sofascore, L’Équipe or Planet Rugby. The URC, Top 14, Champions Cup and Six Nations already get plenty of coverage.
The idea came from the rugby I was struggling to follow.
Having lived and travelled in many places around the world, I’ve made friends throughout the game. Standing on the touchline, I realised I sometimes visited more than ten websites in a single day to find results, fixtures or standings: the sevens series, European U20 competitions, a local club game, the Currie Cup semi-finals, France’s third tier or the women’s WXV Challenger.
Sometimes I was planning to attend a match. Sometimes a friend’s son was playing, or a friend was coaching a squad at a tournament. Each search meant another specific Google query, often ending on a website that hadn’t been updated or was difficult to use on a phone.
I was convinced we could do better. That became the foundation of RugbyScores.live.
For the people who live the game
Rugby is a close-knit global community. Some of us reach the top flight. Many more have played club or university rugby, coached children who have gone on to age-grade competitions, or have friends playing in leagues that receive very little attention.
Those games matter to us.
I want this platform to help me follow university rugby in Cluj for my friend Alex, check how Affies are doing for Dolf, and see how my buddy Vikas is getting on in Nationale during the season.
It’s for the people on the pitch and beside it: players, former players, coaches, parents and supporters. In Japan, South Africa, France, England and Ireland, but also the Netherlands, Belgium, Georgia and wherever else rugby takes root. For the Kiwis and Aussies living abroad who still follow their teams back home, and the coaches whose connections stretch across continents.
If you only want to check the Six Nations table after round two, you already have plenty of good options. RugbyScores is being built for the rugby connections that take you further.
A modest start, with plenty more to follow
The ambition is to bring more first-, second- and third-tier competitions together wherever rugby is played, alongside women’s, university and age-grade rugby.
This is a modest start. Coverage will grow as we find reliable sources and ways to keep the information current. I hope it helps more of us stay connected to the teams, people and places that make this game ours.
And a little rugby history
I’m also a data nerd, with a love of rugby history, l’Ovalie, as we say in French.
Over time, I’d love to enrich the platform with historical results, tables, records and player statistics. Somewhere to settle those clubhouse questions when our memories let us down: who scored in the 1995 semi-finals, or who sits behind Chris Paterson among Scotland’s all-time points scorers?
There is plenty still to build, and suggestions for competitions, additions or improvements are more than welcome… even if you support the Bokke. 😉
With oval love,
Paul-F