Should Women Rugby Players Play with a Smaller Rugby Ball?

We tackle a contentious talking point dividing opinion in the Women’s game

As a rugby ball label, this is a question we see in our DMs quite regularly – are you going to make a Size 4.5 rugby ball for Women?

A question that World Rugby recently tried to answer in a small trial – a trial that fizzled out with no real answer for players or coaches moving forward.

We asked our own network of grassroots and elite players, coaches and followers whether they think the women’s game ball needs to change. Here’s what we found.

Blueprints from other sports

Firstly, let’s take a look at what other sports are doing – namely the WNBA (Women’s National Basketball Association) and Women’s Cricket. Two huge sports, so what is their take on it?

The WNBA use a ball that is slightly smaller than the men’s game (75cm vs 72.5cm). Not a huge difference in numbers on paper, but in terms of the game it improves it a whole lot more; it allows players to shoot from longer distances and have more control of the ball. This has now however opened up a new can of worms; should women play on a smaller court? Smaller rim height? … and so on.

In Cricket, women use a smaller and lighter ball as well as a smaller field, and most players say it makes the game more exciting. Rachel Haynes (Australian batter) said, “At the international level, if a shorter pitch helps make the bowler get the ball to the other end a bit quicker, you've got to be open to it.”

But back to rugby. What are the arguments for the change in our game?

Should Women’s rugby play with a smaller rugby ball?

We’re not actually talking a whole lot smaller. The official World Rugby size 5 ball decreasing to a 4.5 (a size that isn’t currently endorsed by World Rugby, despite it being on their radar).

The main arguments for the change are:

• Most women literally have smaller hands than most men, so a smaller ball would cater for the women’s game specifically. Traditionally rugby was designed for men only, so the pitch size, ball size and other elements of the game were designed specifically for men. If men’s rugby didn’t exist and the sport was created for women first tomorrow, you could argue that the laws would possibly cite smaller dimensions in all areas of the game.

• The game itself would be a lot more attractive visually; think more offloads, attacking rugby and the new generation, those who have never played rugby before, would prefer it.

However, what about the current players?

Sticking with the status quo – we’ve spoken to many players who oppose the change. The main reasons cited is game parity across all game types, elite player are already used to Size 5, and it would create a nightmare for coaches to re-train skills. Passing and kicking would change fairly drastically, even with the slight change in size and weight.

What about the teams and brands themselves?

As a rugby ball manufacturer, we could do without having to engineer another ball and introducing it into the market unless it brings value to the game and the players. Creating a new ball - even if only slight varied – comes with a significant cost. Research and design, new design templates, new moulds and a loss of manufacturing efficiency. And after the ball is made, managing stock becomes more difficult too.

For clubs themselves, you have to take budget into consideration. Clubs typically get discounts for larger quantity orders – if you’re now splitting into different ball products, that’s more for them to manage and could prove to be more costly.

Grassroots clubs also don’t tend to have ‘dedicated’ balls for each team and just use whatever ball is in the bag – if they’re all Size 5, then that’s not an issue. If you’re introducing a 4.5 size ball, then that brings in more complexity.

Jury’s Out with a Split Decision

We recently asked this question on our socials. A 40/60 split in favour of a smaller rugby ball for the women’s teams. Here’s how some of them voted and what they said:

Alana Thomas, Melbourne Rebels Women’s Head Coach – Stick to Size 5

My question is why would we want to change? Would the benefits outweigh the pain of changing? I know that when AFLW did it there was an adjustment as they all had been playing with normal size, and it took a lot to adjust and learn to kick a smaller ball. Players said it was like learning AFL all over again.

Campbell Aitken, NSW Waratahs Women’s Head Coach – Change to Size 4.5

Using a size 4.5 ball will give the players better ball control. It allows players to express themselves better and great for the younger players too. I personally would love to see more offloads and balls out the back of hands. It’s a difficult skill for many and part of the issue is the ball size. A size 4.5 ball would speed the game up and make it more appealing to viewers and players.

Players from East Dorset Dockers Women’s RFC – Stick to Size 5

It’s not that we are fully onboard to keep it the same, but that it’s important to ensure that whoever coaches the women’s teams fully understands the difference and the challenges faced by women that men’s teams don’t face (including taking this forward through the club system and committees). This sort of change requires complete support from everyone, top to bottom, and wrapping that decision with education.

Nathan McMahon, NSW 7s Coach – Change to Size 4.5

One hundred percent support for a size 4.5 rugby ball. Just think of the next-level of skills they could do such as amazing off loads and flick balls. With regards to the changes to coaching these skills, coaches need to be adaptable, just like we train our players to be. Start thinking outside the box and do something different.

Melanie Kawa, Melbourne Rebels Captain – Stick to Size 5

All the rugby laws are the same for both men’s and women’s rugby. Same field, same numbers of players, same laws and I’m rather proud of it. We produce a different brand of rugby but there’s no need to make anything smaller or “easier” to get a brilliant result.

Annabel Sergeant, Scotland Women 7s – Change to Size 4.5

Generally, women have smaller hands and so ball control and offloading would definitely improve with a smaller ball. Men can hold the ball in one hand and pull off some outrageous offloads!
But I can see that a lot of women want to be treated the same as the men’s game and therefore don’t want a different sized ball. It would also take a bit of getting used to, but then again switching to a touch ball (size 4) for me is easy enough.

Joanna Kitlinski, Sale Sharks & USA Rugby – Stick to Size 5

I often talk about this and a a friend of mine said ‘wouldn’t it be cool to be able to one hand palm the ball!’ Although that would be nice, I think it’s one of the few sports that is equal across the board, and that means much more!

What are your thoughts? Would you welcome a change? Let us know on our Instagram, Twitter or leave a comment below!