The best Veo alternative for most rugby teams is Framesports, because what teams usually miss on a Veo camera is not the filming but the rugby analysis, and Framesports does that from any footage, a Veo’s included. If you want a different camera altogether, this guide covers the ones that follow rugby, which need a subscription and which do not, and the ones that do not support rugby at all.
What a Veo camera does for rugby, and what it leaves out
Veo Cam 3 films the whole pitch in 4K, stitched from two video streams, and its AI cuts a follow-cam view that tracks play, so nobody has to operate it. For rugby it also picks out tries, conversions, scrums and lineouts, and clips them for you.
What it leaves out is most of the game. There are no tackles, carries, rucks or player stats for rugby, and Veo’s own help centre lists Veo Analytics 2, the line-up feature and officially supported livestreaming as not available for rugby. Each camera also needs its own subscription, with a monthly allowance of recording hours: ten on the Starter plan, twenty on Team. Hours are counted when a match is uploaded and do not roll over, so a club filming several teams can run out.
1. Framesports: the best Veo alternative for rugby analysis
Best for: teams that want tackles, carries, rucks and player stats from their footage, whatever they film on.
Framesports is not a camera, and you may not need a new one. Connect your Veo or Hudl account and new matches come in automatically, or upload footage from a phone, YouTube or Google Drive. It comes back with every tackle, carry, ruck, kick and set piece tagged, every clip cut and the stats worked out, and each player gets their own clips by WhatsApp or email.
- Works with the Veo you already own, or any other camera
- The rugby events a Veo does not pick out, for the team and every player
- Player development plans built from each player’s numbers
- The first ten minutes of your first match are analysed free, and there is a free trial
- Priced for a school or team rather than a professional programme
2. XbotGo: the no-subscription option
Best for: teams that want automatic tracking without a monthly bill.
XbotGo makes two cameras with a “Football & Rugby” tracking mode: the Chameleon, a gimbal that turns your phone into a tracking camera, at about three hundred dollars, and the Falcon, a standalone 4K camera at about eight hundred dollars. Neither needs a subscription for filming, livestreaming or its basic cloud storage. The catch is that rugby shares one mode with American football, and XbotGo publishes very little rugby-specific detail.
3. Pixellot Air NXT: portable, with a subscription
Best for: teams that film away games and want a Veo-style portable camera.
Pixellot’s Air NXT is a portable dual-lens camera that follows the ball, and Pixellot’s rugby page recommends it for away fixtures. It needs a Pixellot subscription, the Air NXT’s own page leaves rugby off its sport list, and tagging in Pixellot’s VidSwap software is done by hand.
4. Spiideo: fixed cameras for a home ground
Best for: a club with its own pitch and a budget for an installation.
Spiideo installs fixed 4K cameras whose AI follows rugby play, with an analysis platform on top. Its automatic tagging, AutoData, does not support rugby, and pricing is through its sales team. It suits a ground that wants every fixture filmed without anyone carrying a tripod.
5. Hudl Focus Flex: if you are already on Hudl
Best for: programmes already paying for Hudl.
Focus Flex films, uploads and livestreams automatically, and Hudl’s rugby page offers it, though the camera’s own FAQ lists only football matches. It needs an active Hudl subscription and is priced by quote. It makes most sense when your footage already lives in Hudl.
6. A phone or action camera on a mast
Best for: the lowest cost, with no subscription at all.
A phone, a GoPro or a DJI Osmo Action on a tall mast at halfway will not follow play, but a wide shot from height shows the whole pitch, which is what analysis needs. It costs a few hundred pounds at most, and the footage works in Framesports like any other. Our guide to the best cameras for rugby analysis covers masts, angles and settings.
Cameras that do not support rugby
Some popular names do not work for rugby yet. Trace does not support it. Reeplayer says rugby is not officially supported. SoloShot follows one person wearing a tag, not a team game.
How to choose
- You want the rugby analysis a Veo does not do: Framesports, with the camera you already have
- You want tracking with no subscription: XbotGo, or a phone on a mast
- You want a portable AI camera and are happy to subscribe: Pixellot Air NXT, or keep the Veo
- You have your own ground and a budget: Spiideo
- You are already on Hudl: Focus Flex
For a side-by-side of the two biggest names, see Hudl vs Veo camera for rugby, and for what each route costs, how much rugby video analysis costs.
