The Rugby World Cup is at an end and the tournament saw major improvements in terms of attendances, broadcasts and digital reach. After a final that saw South Africa defeat England, one player in particular attracted huge online attention.
Analysis by data consultancy firm Kantar shows that the most discussed player after the final two games was South Africa captain Siya Kolisi. The back row attracted a massive 150,659 tweets after his post-match interview went viral.
Stirring words from South Africa's captain Siya Kolisi after their World Cup victory #RWCfinal #ENGvRSA pic.twitter.com/1UfDLZeA9H
— RTÉ Rugby (@RTErugby) November 2, 2019
The second most-discussed was winger Makazole Mapimpi with 6,202. As for their English counterparts, it was Kyle Sinckler who unsurprisingly attracted the most attention with 4,120. The prop was replaced after just three minutes. He had been knocked out following a collision.
The second most discussed Englishman was captain Owen Farrell with 3,041.
This World Cup capitalised on the current digital age to drive interest. Overall, there were more than 1.7 billion digital video views.
As a whole, World Rugby chief executive Brett Gosper was left elated by how things went. “Statistics would say this is the greatest World Cup ever,” he said.
