Rugby Ball Buying Guide

Rugby balls come in three sizes, many different qualities and are have many different brands. The ball is oval or egg shaped. The ball originally was constructed using a pig's bladder and because they had a tendency to be oval shaped, that is how the design developed. It was William Webb Ellis that first caught and ran with a ball, whilst at Rugby School, against the rules at that time, was thought to be the first resemblance to the modern game. At that time, the three football codes had not been split (Football, Union and League).

Blowing the ball up was not a pleasant task, as the ball was still in its early stage and was starting to smell quite badly. The early balls had no set size as it was governed by how big the pig's bladder was.

The rugby ball comes in 3 sizes and is suitable for use by the following age groups:-

• Size 3 – Mini rugby – age groups - under 7, u8 and u9.
• Size 4 – Junior rugby – age groups – Under 10, u11, u12, u13 and u14.
• Size 5 – Full sized rugby – age groups – Under 15 and above, into senior rugby.

There are a few major manufacturers of rugby ball:-

• Gilbert
• Mitre
• Webb Ellis
• Kooga
• Canterbury
• Puma
• Rhino

and many more own label ones:-

• Ram
• Lusum
• The list is endless but, I am sure you get the picture.

The types of ball are categorised as recreational, training and match balls. There are also all weather variations of each ball. The variations in design in most cases are cosmetic but, the type of material used defines the use as a match or training ball. Every ball has bumps or raised dimples, this gives the player a better feel and improves the grip on the ball. The configuration varies greatly from each manufacturer.

Manufacturers spend thousands of pound developing and producing balls that will hopefully grace the big stage. Gilbert and Mitre are the two biggest rugby ball manufacturers in the world. Mitre rugby balls are the official rugby match balls for the Italian Rugby Federation. Gilbert supply all of the home nations except Wales, with their match and training balls. Wales ball of choice is manufactured by Webb Ellis

Gilbert are now the official supplier to the England rugby teams and have been producing rugby balls for over 180 years