Premiership Rugby: This is the most influential team on Instagram

News Desk
Authored by News Desk
Posted Sunday, November 14, 2021 - 1:27pm

As Premiership Rugby is in full swing, fans are flocking to watch the exhilarating games after last year’s cancellation. Rugby players starring on the field are also celebrities in their own right when they are not tackling and scoring tries.

With searches for “Owen Farrell Instagram” up 80% in the past week, LiveRugbyTickets.co.uk sought to discover which rugby team was the most influential Instagram by analysing their combined following.

The results:

 

Premiership Team

Combined team following

Most followed team member

No. of followers

1

Saracens

1,208,511

Owen Farrell

350,093

2

Wasps

992,315

Francois Hougaard

322,438

3

Exeter Chiefs

989,595

Henry Slade

200,551

4

Leicester Tigers

924,930

George Ford

145,302

5

Bath Rugby

852,936

Danny Cipriani

237,243

6

Sale Sharks

829,438

Francois De Klerk

293,797

7

Harlequins

697,953

Joe Marler

198,364

8

Gloucester Rugby

584,155

Louis Ree-Zammit

185,254

9

Bristol Bears

523,341

Semi Radradra

123,029

10

London Irish

512,945

Augustin Creevy

200,074

11

Northampton Saints

434,647

Courtney Lawes

126,537

12

Worcester Warriors

266,929

Tom Howe

68,310

13

Newcastle Falcons

43,056

Logovi’i Mulipola

17,318

Despite spending the 2020-21 season in the RFU Championship due to salary cap breaches, Saracens still come out on top as the most influential team on Instagram, with a collective team following of 1,208,511. They are the only premiership team to exceed a million fans on the ‘Gram. Captain Owen Farrell leads with his 350,093 followers, making up 20.7% of the team’s overall following. The Sarries’ fanbase on the social media platform is also more than double that of London Irish in last place (512,945 followers).

The Coventry based Wasps take second place, with a combined team following of 992,315. Out of the club’s 46 players, South African scrum-half Francois Hougaard makes up more than a third of the team’s followers (32.5%). Claiming second most followed premiership player closely behind Owen Farrell, Hougaard (322,438) totals 7.9% less than Farrell in first place.

Closely behind in third place is the Exeter Chiefs, with a collective following of 989,595. Of that, Henry Slade makes up 20.3% alone, with 200,551 fans under his belt. Despite his contributions to the team’s overall following, Slade ranks fifth amongst the most followed players – 31.7% less than Francois De Klerk in third (Wasps), and 15.5% less than Danny Cipriani in fourth (Bath Rugby).

In fourth with a team following of 923,930 are the Leicester Tigers. The sqsuad’s fly-half George Ford is the player with the largest fanbase on Instagram (145,302), 41.9% less than Saracen’s Owen Farrell’s (250,093 followers).

Newcastle Falcons rank bottom of the table:

Newcastle Falcons rank last in 13th place overall, with a team following of 43,056 – 83.8% less than Worcester Warriors beating it in 12th place (266,929). Falcon’s Samoan prop Logovi’I Mulipola totals 17,318 followers, making up a whopping 40.2% majority of the squad’s fans on Instagram – exceeding his 26 teammates by a landslide.

Methodology:

  1. LiveRugbyTickets.co.uk sought to determine the most influential Premiership Rugby teams on Instagram through their collective team following.
  2. The obtained list of teams and players was acquired from Premiership Rugby’s club page.
  3. The players of each rugby team were subsequently collected from each club’s official website. For the purpose of this study, only the senior squad players were considered.
  4. Each player’s official account was identified, and the number of followers was collected for each.
  5. Each team’s following was then determined by combining the respective player’s individual number of followers on Instagram.
  6. The obtained results were then ranked in descending order to discover the team with the largest following.
  7. Data was collected between 25/10/21 and 27/10/21 and is subject to change.
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