WXV Global Series' smaller ball trial: 'Why should we not try it?'

In April it was confirmed by World Rugby that a trial of a women’s specific size 4.5 ball will take place at the WXV Global Series.

Earlier this week, England international Zoe Harrison told journalists that the trial was “the worst decision that someone has ever made”.

The 4.5 ball that will be trialled this September and October will be roughly three per cent smaller than a size five ball but will weigh the same as a size five ball.

Physiologically there is cause for change too. Men’s hands are 10-15 per cent bigger on average than women’s hands and there is a continuing desire for women’s rugby to not continue following the same path as men’s rugby as popularity continues to boom in the wake of Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025.

Last year, World Rugby confirmed that a smaller ball trial would take place in the women’s HSBC SVNS Series and HSBC SVNS World Championship competitions.

The ball, which has been developed in partnership with Gilbert, combines bespoke dimensions with the same weight, advanced aerodynamic and technological features of a standard size five.

Since the trial began on the Series, the ball has been consistently evolved following player feedback and has received anecdotally positive feedback across an enthralling season in which New Zealand’s Black Ferns Sevens have dominated.

Mark Harrington, World Rugby’s Chief Player Welfare and Rugby Services Officer, said: “Along with the sevens players, we’ll carefully take stock of player feedback, injury surveillance and shape of the game data from the WXV Global Series.

“From there, together with the wider women’s game, we’ll assess the findings and look at where we go next.”

The SVNS trial followed positive player feedback from trials conducted in women’s age grade rugby and in domestic competitions in Spain and Colombia.

During these trials, players felt as though they had greater control and accuracy, while not seeing their kicking impacted.

At the 2024 Under-18 Six Nations the size 4.5 ball was initially lighter than a size five before having weight added to it following feedback from kickers.

Since Harrison’s comments a hot debate has been stoked about the use of a smaller ball in women’s rugby. Plenty of people have had their say on things.

Former Red Roses full-back Danielle ‘Nolli’ Waterman took to Instagram Stories to discuss how a smaller ball trial could have its benefits – particularly when handed the opportunity to collate data en masse at this year’s WXV Global Series.

Later invited onto BBC Radio 5 Live, the 82-cap international revealed that she had never been able to hold a size five ball in one hand across her 15-year Test career and how an influx of data through a trial could have long-term advantages.

“I think fundamentally, this is a trial.” Waterman said. “This is giving everybody the opportunity to actually trial to provide their feedback and opinion. But also we’re in a place where the game has got the ability to create a huge number of stats.

“I’m a commentator now and we get given so many stats in terms of passing accuracy, speed of pass, number of passes, pass variety, distance, kicking, offloading, everything.

“Technology is providing that in the women’s game now, which is awesome. We’ve got a huge backlog of information. They can now have a comparison from previous tournaments with the size five to now with this new ball.

“There’s that collective, subjective and objective feedback that World Rugby will be able to use to move it forward. There’s been some questions around should it be brought in at the top level of the game? For me, yes.

“Because they’re the ones that are full-time, they’re the ones that have the ability to train with it. Therefore, the transition into performance on the field will be easier but fundamentally we also have this ability to create those stats and that’s where I think the game hasn’t been in the past and now, we can really benefit from that, which is awesome.”

There is a precedent for change too. In the United States, the basketball used in the women’s sport is an inch smaller in circumference and is 56.69 grams lighter.

In cricket equipment is tailored to female athletes, in athletics hurdles and steeplechase barriers are lower, throwing implements in field competitions are lighter, the net is placed lower in women’s volleyball and in recent years there has been an explosion in the development of women’s specific footwear in football and rugby.

“I love it,” ex-Red Roses prop Shaunagh Brown said on Instagram. “Women are smaller than men. We wear different clothes. We wear different shoes. We have different sizes for different people. Why would we not try it?

“Women, on average, are 10 per cent smaller than men. Hand size on average is 10 per cent [smaller] – I’ve got big hands and I can just about hold a size five. A lot of things in this world, in our society is designed through the lens of a man using it.

“Why do men play with a size five? Why don’t men play with a size 6? There was a reason it stopped at size five. I would love to know what that reason was. I am going to suggest it’s because of the research done using men’s data.”