The prospect of introducing a smaller ball into women's rugby has been backed by stars of the game who say it could improve handling skills.
A size five ball is used across men's and women's rugby but there is a belief in some quarters that women should use a size four due to them largely being smaller than their male counterparts. The idea is being backed by Ireland Six Nations back Eimear Considine, who won her 26th Irish cap during the tournament which ended last weekend, and Red Roses legend turned commentator Danielle 'Nolli' Waterman.
Considine told RTE Sport's podcast : "I actually don't know the reasons why we use a size 5 ball but it’s worth a discussion. My hands aren’t big enough to do a one-handed offload but maybe if there was a smaller ball it might allow for you to be a bit slicker. Naturally, we have smaller hands, that’s just our physiology, it’s nothing to do with not being able to play with a size five ball. It's more our skills might improve if we had a smaller ball. That’s a really interesting argument, the fact that a lot of other sports around the world do use a size four ball."
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World Rugby trialled a size 4.5 ball at elite level a few years ago but it was not taken further after feedback from participants and performance evaluation. However, some would like to see longer-term research to give more definitive results, while others fear it may be harder to kick further distances with a smaller ball unless the weight was unchanged and there are doubts over how much it would benefit women's rugby in reality.
World Cup winner and former England full-back Waterman, who earned 82 caps over 15 years, said on Twitter: "I 100% think we should have a smaller ball. Skill set will increase massively in general play and although kicking is fast becoming more integrated into the women’s game, in my opinion this isn’t enough of an argument that outweighs improvements across the game ball in hand. Personally my handling was significantly better with a size four because I could hold it with one hand, and therefore had the ability to offload with confidence. I couldn’t do this with a size five unless in two hands, because I couldn’t grip it properly (due to the size of my hands)".
For context, France had the highest number of handling errors in the Women's Six Nations (98), followed by Italy (93), England (81), Scotland (80), Ireland (77) and Wales (50). In the men's this year, Ireland were top of the list with 82, followed by Scotland (71), France (69), Wales (62), England (44) and Italy (41). It must be noted there are many more variables to come into play, like professionalism - not all women's teams are professional and have the time to spend honing skills - style of play adopted, and tactics used.
England Women head coach Simon Middleton, who has just led the Red Roses to their fourth consecutive Six Nations title and record-equalling 23rd win in a row, is one name to have previously backed the idea to try and create a better spectacle and a more attacking brand of rugby.
Considine's younger sister Ailish, fresh from a second Australian Football League Women's title with Adelaide Crows, uses a size four ball to kick her goals in her code and has done since moving to Australia in 2019.
"It just makes sense," she told RTE's podcast. "We have smaller features as female athletes, our arms are not as big as males. It’s just an obvious thing to have, a smaller ball. It’s just that easier to grasp and get the skill level more accurate and steady in your hand.
"The talk of handling errors that goes with women’s rugby – if you introduce a smaller ball, they’ll catch the ball easier. It’s a matter of fact, it’s a matter of science. It’s not anything to do with the lack of skill level that’s there. You are playing with a slight disadvantage. It’s an obvious change for women’s rugby to make, it’s just a genetic thing that women have smaller hands and a better grip will make for a better skill execution."
However, Wasps Women director of rugby Giselle Mather has previously been critical of the proposal, saying: "There are no differences in the laws we play to and if you change that, they could change other laws for us. It messes with the purity of the game."
