Svns: Women to play with smaller size 4.5 ball

A previous version, which was lighter as well as smaller, was used in 2024’s under-18 Six Nations.

The new incarnation, which is the same weight as a size five, aids players handling, while not impacting their kicking.

“World Rugby is committed to supporting women’s rugby in forging its own path to suit our players, not just following the history of the men’s game,” said Melodie Robinson, chair of World Rugby’s Women’s High Performance Committee.

“In trialling this new ball we’re focused on player feedback and giving them the best possible stage to showcase their world-class skills.”

There is a division among women’s players about the use of different balls to the men’s game.

While some have welcomed it, others believe it is an important principle to match the men’s game and are concerned about the costs to grassroots clubs of having separate equipment.

Other adaptations have been made for the women’s game, with boot and kit manufacturers designing their products for female bodies, rather than scaling down men’s products.

The threshold at which a mandatory head injury check is carried out is also different.

Women’s instrumented mouthguards are triggered at an acceleration of 65G, rather than 75G for men, as it believed women are more more susceptible to concussion.

Then England coach Simon Middleton suggested in 2023 that touchline conversions be moved infield some distance in the women’s game to account for the “natural discrepancy between male and female athletes”.

Kickers recorded a 61% conversion success rate at the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup, up from 51% at the previous edition of the tournament three years before.

It is still some way short of the 80% of successful conversions registered at the 2023 men’s Rugby World Cup, however.