The Debate Over Smaller Balls in Women’s Rugby
There are countless decisions throughout history that could be considered among the worst. However, recently, England rugby player Zoe Harrison made a strong case for World Rugby’s decision to introduce smaller balls for women as being at the top of that list. Harrison, a five-eighth for the Red Roses, expressed her frustration during an interview with the BBC, stating, “I’ve not kicked anything less than a size five since I was the age of 14.” She called the move “the worst decision that someone has ever made.”
Despite Harrison’s strong opposition, the idea of using smaller balls for women is not entirely new. In fact, several other sports have already adopted this approach. Women in cricket, basketball, water polo, and even the AFLW use smaller balls. Yet, when it comes to soccer or rugby, the notion of a different-sized ball for female players is often met with resistance or seen as unfair.
Jilly Collins, interim general manager of women’s high performance at Rugby Australia, highlighted that discussions about reducing ball sizes have been ongoing for years. She explained, “It was something that was discussed 20 years ago. But what’s happened in the last few years is a consensus across unions to actually test this properly with really good research to see if it does make a performance difference that is of benefit to the women’s game.”
World Rugby has been trialling the use of size 4.5 balls, which are approximately three per cent smaller than the traditional size five balls used by both men and women. This initiative began at youth levels before being introduced in rugby sevens in November. The next step is to implement the smaller balls in the women’s Super Rugby season starting in June, followed by the international WXV Global Series later this year, where Harrison will play.
Australian sevens star Teagan Levi initially shared some of Harrison’s concerns about the change. “Growing up, we’ve all played with a size five ball – so to change mid-career is a bit of an inconvenience,” she said. “It just got brought into training and that training session was probably one of the worst training sessions we’ve ever had… They were going everywhere and anywhere because of how far we could throw it and how fast we could throw it.”
However, Levi has since come to appreciate the benefits of the smaller ball, especially in terms of passing. She believes it has helped weaker teams become stronger. Ahead of the Super Rugby season, Wallaroos and Waratahs captain Emily Chancellor has also started training with the smaller ball. Initially, she had reservations, explaining, “It’s a game that I’ve grown up watching for a long time, and wanted to do what the boys were doing. So to do that then with a different sized ball feels like you’re not doing the same thing – which sounds silly to be picking up over.”
Two weeks into the training, however, Chancellor says she is now excited about the potential improvements in control over the ball. “I don’t have to kick a ball or throw it in from a lineout, where precision becomes really important,” she said. “So for me and my skill set, I can’t imagine that I’m going to notice an obvious change, except potentially having greater control over the ball. It can only make the game more entertaining and more enjoyable for us to play because we’re not going to have as many stop-start moments from skill error.”
Collins emphasized that there is no set timeline for the trial and that there is no guarantee the smaller ball will be permanently adopted. However, she hopes the trial will highlight the importance of using data-driven approaches when introducing adapted equipment in women’s sports. “I really believe we’re doing it in the right way, to get to a point where we can make genuine objective decisions about it,” she said. “It gets wrapped up in this, ‘Why should we be doing anything different? We haven’t changed the ball before, we’re playing rugby, we’re not playing women’s rugby’… I want to put all of that aside and go, ‘What’s the data actually showing us?’”
Chancellor agrees with this perspective. “Particularly in the rugby union space, the women’s game hasn’t been as prominent, as prevalent, as popular by participants or by viewers. So there is a growth opportunity and when there’s growth, there is an interest in data. We have to remember that women are not the same physical shape and makeup as a man, so an opportunity to grow with science, I think, should be embraced.”
