A company based in Devon will be using advanced technology to provide digital scrummaging machines for all 20 teams at the Rugby World Cup next year.
Every team that qualifies for the tournament in France will receive one of the machines — at a cost of more than £1,000,000 — manufactured by Aramis Rugby, which is based in South Molton. The machines will use technology from the European Space Agency to enable teams to scrummage against each other virtually and to carefully analyse the forces in a scrum.
The company calls upon the knowledge of Nigel Horton, who won 20 caps in the second row for England between 1969 and 1980 and is an Aramis ambassador. Horton, 74, has long been a scrummaging aficionado, branding
