23rd January 2008 - SAS, the market leader in enterprise intelligence software, is proud to continue, for the third year running, as the official data and competitive intelligence partner of the world's biggest annual rugby tournament, the RBS 6 Nations Championship.

Alastair Sim, Director of Strategy and Marketing for SAS, UK & Ireland commented: "We are delighted to be continuing our sponsorship of such a major global sporting event. Year on year, it strengthens as a magnificent rugby occasion and it has been the perfect platform for SAS to show just how much insight can be derived from our enterprise intelligence software. For the past two years we have enjoyed a very successful and rewarding partnership with the RBS 6 Nations Championship; we hope this continues and that this year’s tournament is the most glorious yet”.

Throughout the 2008 championship, SAS will continue to provide the BBC with comprehensive on-screen analysis for all 15 matches, including breakdowns of vital information, such as the number of tackles made, scrums and line-outs won and lost, possession and penalties conceded. SAS will also provide a live data feed of match intelligence to BBCi, so fans at home can access the same real time competitive intelligence through the interactive service.

Immediately after each game, the official pre and post match data and analysis and graphical reports, generated by SAS, will be posted on the official RBS 6 Nations Championship website, www.rbs6nations.com, and will be distributed to participating unions and team coaches. The intelligence is also sent to over 300 journalists, which is regularly used for post-match analysis articles in local, online, national and international press.

Dave Kavanagh, Commercial Manager of the RBS 6 Nations Championship, said: "SAS continues to prove itself as an invaluable partner for the RBS 6 Nations Championship. The data, analysis and insight provided by SAS for each and every game has proved priceless for us internally, as well as for external parties interested in the game, be they journalists or fans. We look forward to another exciting tournament and are delighted that SAS is again playing such a vital role in making it a success“.


About SAS
SAS is the leader in Enterprise Intelligence software and services. Customers at 43,000 sites use SAS software to improve performance through insight from data, resulting in faster, more accurate business decisions; more profitable relationships with customers and suppliers; compliance with governmental regulations; research breakthroughs; and better products and processes. Only SAS offers leading data integration, storage, analytics and business intelligence applications within a comprehensive enterprise intelligence platform. Since 1976, SAS has been giving customers around the world THE POWER TO KNOW®.

For further information, please contact the team at the SAS press office on:
Tel: +44 (0) 1628 490490
Email: saspressoffice@suk.sas.com

For more information on SAS, please visit http://www.sas.com/uk