“We won a World Cup with a size five so it can’t have been that bad,” the England full-back Ellie Kildunne says of World Rugby’s trial with smaller balls in the upcoming WXV Global Series. The top 12 nations in the world rankings will be playing home and away matches from Saturday with the WXV competition revamped from the one contested over the past few years. There will be no trophy at the end of it and the ball trial that has produced no little debate is in place.
Players will compete with a size 4.5 ball instead ofthe aforementioned size five, which is used across rugby union; the new ball weighs the same but is 3% smaller. The reasoning is to see if a smaller ball will improve skillsets because of women’s physiology, despite statistics such as a 87.8% lineout success rate at the 2025 Women’s Six Nations and kicking success at goal reaching 61% at the World Cup last year with the old ball.
The move comes after World Rugby received positive feedback from earlier trials in youth competitions and the Sevens World Series and it will now be tested at elite Test level, with players in the WXV competition to provide their thoughts to the governing body once the tournament concludes at the end of October.
When it was announced the trial would take place during international matches there was a mixed reaction, with the England fly-half Zoe Harrison calling it the “worst decision ever”.
The Wales hooker Kelsey Jones sees both sides of the argument. “Everyone is obviously going to have their opinion and when it came out that we were going to do it on an international stage, I was like: ‘Why would we do that?’” she says.
“Obviously already we are trying to grow the game and get people to watch and then we throw in a different size ball in there as well. But on the flip side I think doing it with internationals you get a true reflection of the differences and if it is beneficial. I have really gone back and forth with my opinion on it. It takes time to get used to and thankfully we have had time with the ball and it’s just playing rugby again now.”
Players have been able to train with the new ball for the past few weeks and Jones, like many others, got a hold of one to get used to in the off season.
In her specialist position she has had to adjust a set-piece routine that had become second nature to her. “I have actually struggled with it a little bit. It is only ever so slightly different and that small change of maybe my hand positioning [is what I am struggling with].
“So on a size five ball, it is what we have known all of our lives and I’ve been in the game quite a little while now, I have a certain process that I stick to every throw. I start with my feet, I put my hands in a certain position every time so, with that ball being slightly smaller, I have just tried to figure out what the sweet spot is for me.
“When I first started throwing the ball, they got there but they looked ugly as anything. That has been really interesting. But having that time with the ball it is coming out a lot cleaner now. It took some time to get used to but I feel like I am slowly getting there.
“Speaking with a few of the kickers, obviously, being a smaller ball, when they are trying to find that sweet spot it is just a lot smaller so there is obviously a lot less room for error. I think the kickers have had it the toughest, then hookers and then everyone else. It isn’t drastically different and it does allow you to move the ball and have the confidence with ball in hand. So a mixed bag of emotions.”
Kildunne has found handling largely the same but has struggled when kicking. While the 27-year-old doesn’t kick at goal, out of hand it is an attacking string to her bow.
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“It is harder to do a spiral bomb,” she says. “I will say that is the one thing I am frustrated about. It is harder to spiral because it is a smaller surface area. That’s fine, I will just have to relearn how to hit that spiral with the ball that we have got.
“I don’t always spiral, I can go end over end, and it’s just that adjusting piece. I have taught myself how to spiral before and I will teach myself how to spiral again.”
The full-back said, however, that she did not anticipate any major problems with the trial. The Red Roses are on a 38-game winning streak and have won the past eight Women’s Six Nations trophies as well as the World Cup last year.
“The 4.5 it isn’t actually that different,” Kildunne adds. “This week we are training with match balls and it feels a lot grippier and I have been able to offload it a little bit more, but it’s just a ball.
“I don’t really think of the differences or I’ll start making differences in the way that I play. If anything it flies a little bit different when it is being kicked, which takes a little bit of adjustment. I think it is a talking point because people are finding things to talk about but, at the end of the day, it is just a ball and you are going to have to get used to it. We didn’t have a problem with the fives, we won’t have a problem with the 4.5s.”
Fixtures in the series include a rerun of the World Cup final when England take on Canada on 19 September, while Scotland host the Black Ferns for the first time on the same day, Ireland play South Africa for the second time in their history on 24 October and Wales play two Tests in Japan in October. Let the games begin.
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