Riedel provides clear comms for English rugby team

Riedel Communications has extended its partnership with Red Bull UK to provide a fully integrated communications solution for the English national rugby union team. Consisting of a Riedel Artist digital intercom matrix, Bolero and Bolero S wireless intercom systems and RSP-1232HL SmartPanels — and backed by Riedel’s Managed Technology Services for remote support and maintenance — the solution provides the team with clear communication during training and matches.

“Coaches and other staff conduct numerous strategic conversations during a rugby match, and the standard radios that the team was previously using didn’t provide the audio quality needed for them to consistently hear each other,” said Nacho Lee, UK Sales Manager at Riedel. “Not only did the team require a solution that delivered crystal-clear audio, but it also needed to provide ease of use with differentiated tactical channels for various staff. Finally, they wanted peace of mind in terms of system set-up, support and maintenance — and our Managed Technology solution checked all their boxes.”

At the heart of the rugby team’s communications solutions is Riedel’s Artist intercom mainframe. A decentralised, scalable solution, Artist allows for flexible placement of nodes to reduce wiring and set-up costs, while enhancing system reliability with a dual-ring fibre-optic network topology that provides full redundancy. Furthermore, with its unified recording and audio mixing capabilities, the matrix allows the team to integrate referee communications into its strategic decision workflow, while recording in-game communications for after-game training purposes.

The Artist platform integrates seamlessly with the team’s Bolero and Bolero S wireless intercom systems, which consist of five antennas and 30 wireless beltpacks, with Red Bull-branded MAX high-performance headsets and 20 RUN in-ear headsets delivering optimal audio quality. The full-duplex, multiple channel communication provided by the Bolero systems enables flexible set-up, allowing the system to be used during both training and matches.

For ease of use, the head coach relies on Riedel’s RSP-1232HL SmartPanel. With the panel, he can easily ID each key member of staff, making it simple to communicate individually with other coaches, the substitute bench, the medical team and more. From Riedel’s Remote Operations Center (ROC) in Germany, the company’s operators remotely control, configure and calibrate all system components in real time, ensuring maximum security and optimum sound quality.

England winger Jack Nowell added, “In preparation for the Rugby World Cup 2023 in France, we are travelling a lot throughout the year. When travelling so much, it’s really important we have consistency in how we communicate as a team so that we can replicate performances wherever we are. Riedel’s systems are really helping us do that and means there’s one less thing to worry about when on the pitch.”

“Our communication solutions provide flexibility and reliability for a wide range of sports applications, and we are very excited to take advantage of that to move our longstanding partnership with Red Bull beyond motorsports and into rugby,” said Paul Rivens, General Manager UK at Riedel. “This fully integrated solution will be used in every upcoming match and practice until the 2023 Rugby World Cup season, and possibly beyond. It has already been deployed successfully in the Six Nations Championship and we can’t wait to see it take the pitch in other major events.”