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The rugby ball is one of the most recognisable aspects of rugby, but also one of the most bizarre. How exactly did we end up as eggchasers?¹

If you asked most people to describe a ball, they would describe a round sphere. However, in the sport of rugby, we use a bizarre ellipsoidal ball. Lovingly referred to as an ‘egg’ or as ‘egg-shaped’ by many rugby union fans, the ball has become an icon of the sport. But how exactly did we end up with such a shape in the first place?

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Whilst it is incredibly unlikely that a young man at Rugby School named William Webb Ellis had anything to do with the ‘invention’ of rugby football, his time at the school does coincide with the probable first rugby ball. The first rugby balls were made by local shoemakers in Rugby town, with the firm run by one William Gilbert being recorded as making balls in the 1820s². Whilst some have claimed that Gilbert made the first rugby ball in 1823, the exact date isn’t quite so clear. Gilbert’s themselves claim that the ball ‘picked up’ by William Webb Ellis in 1823 was made by their firm³, however, this would suggest that the company had been making balls for a period of time before this. Regardless of the exact date, at some point after making their initial ball, Gilbert’s self-titled firm would switch from a shoemakers to a specialist sports equipment manufacturer.

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William Gilbert’s original rugby football was not unlike a standard games ball of the period: an inflated pig’s bladder covered in a panelled leather outer layer. The first rugby balls were not specifically egg-shaped, or to give it its geometric term, ellipsoidal. The balls were generally rounder, described as ‘plum-shaped’ by the World Rugby Museum⁴, and more similar to a modern association football than a modern rugby ball. Due to the usage of pigs’ bladders as the ball’s inner sphere, the balls were extremely irregular, as the shape and size of the ball were dictated by the shape of the bladder itself and how it inflated. Inflation of the ball was done manually, by somewhat willing participants, using a clay pipe. This would have been an unpleasant task, as inflation was done with a raw, untreated bladder. Whilst getting up close and personal with raw offal would have been an unpleasant task regardless of circumstance, it also carried a large risk of disease.

Richard Lindon was another shoemaker based in Rugby who made rugby balls. His firm provided balls not only for Rugby School but also for the University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge and Dublin University Football Club⁵. Having trained under Gilbert as his apprentice⁶, Lindon would go on to revolutionise the rugby ball. Having lost his wife in 1843 to a lung disease potentially caused by inflating pigs’ bladders⁷, Lindon sought to develop an alternative inner for the balls. Development took place over a number of years, with vulcanised India⁸ rubber eventually selected as the replacement. Due to the stiffness of the material, Lindon also developed an accompanying brass hand pump which was used to inflate the ball⁹. Despite winning awards for his inventions upon showcasing them in London in 1861¹⁰, Lindon did not trademark them, and soon enough, other manufacturers began producing balls using the same techniques. One of which would be Lindon’s former employer and rival, William Gilbert.

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The first definite notion of a non-spherical ball used in rugby rules comes from 1857, with the description of the ball ‘pointing’ in Thomas Hughes’ Tom Brown’s School Days. Whilst the book itself takes place in 1835, it is not until its publication in 1857 that we have a record of a pointed ball.

‘And now that the two sides have fairly sundered, and each occupies its own ground, and we get a good look at them, what absurdity is this? You don’t mean to say that those fifty or sixty boys in white trousers, many of them quite small, are going to play that huge mass opposite? Indeed I do, gentlemen; they’re going to try at any rate, and won’t make such a bad fight of it either, mark my word; for hasn’t old Brooke won the toss, with his lucky halfpenny, and you got choice of goals and kick-off? The new ball you may see lie there quite by itself, in the middle, pointing towards the School or island goal; in another minute it will be well on its way there.’

-Thomas Hughes in Tom Brown’s School Days, 1857¹¹

The slight change in ball shape and the indication that it was pointed suggests that the ball had evolved¹² to better suit the game. Whilst rugby football rules initially was a kicking-based game, the change to a slightly pointed ball suggests that hand passing of the ball had become more common.

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When the Rugby Football Union was formed in 1871, the official law book did not contain any regulations about the size or shape of the ball. However, publication of the laws, along with standardisation of association football rules, led to a popularisation of the game and an increased demand for rugby balls. William Gilbert continued to make rugby balls at his shop in Rugby town centre until his death in 1877, upon which time his nephew took over the family business.

It would be in an update to the lawbook in 1892 that the size and dimensions of the rugby ball were set by the RFU. They stated that the ball must be 11 to 11 1/4 inches in length with an ‘end on’ circumference of 30 to 31 inches and an ‘in width’ circumference of 25 1/2 to 26 inches. The ball was to be 12 to 13 ounces in weight and hand sewn with no less than 8 stitches to the inch¹³. The new laws did not specify the construction materials nor explicitly state a shape beyond measurements. This allowed the development of the ball shape as the game itself developed; accordingly, the RFU and World Rugby adjusted the specifications of the ball in various updated editions of the law book.

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The early twentieth century saw the widest variation in the style of the rugby ball. Whilst some preferred a rounder six-panelled ball, South Africans preferred an eight-sided ball, which was purported to have better grip, and those in Australia and New Zealand preferred a pointed ‘torpedo’ style ball. The English, however, preferred a four-panelled ball, such as those made by Gilbert, and eventually, in 1961, a four-panel ball would be specified within the law book¹⁴.

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The largest change in the history of the rugby ball since Lindon’s invention came in the 1970s when traditional leather was replaced by synthetic materials¹⁵¹⁶. Leather balls were heavy and frequently became waterlogged, making them even heavier. To combat this, Mitre introduced the Multiplex ball in 1970; the synthetic ball was as much of an instant hit as you can get in a sport like rugby union. It wouldn’t be until the launch of Gilbert’s Barbarian ball in the early 1980s that the tide would change. England men used the iconic white ball for the first time in the 1981 Six Nations; the Barbarian ball featured a higher percentage of natural rubber in the outer material than the smooth Mitre ball, giving the players more grip and therefore more control. Overarching change, however, took the best part of a decade, with countries such as Wales and France still using traditional leather balls well into the 1980s, with the final usage of a leather ball in a men’s international test match taking place in 1986¹⁷. The Mitre synthetic ball would become the first-ever Men’s Rugby World Cup ball a year later. Adidas would provide the ball for the Men’s Rugby World Cup in 1991 whilst Gilbert Barbarian balls would be used in the first Women’s Rugby World Cup in the same year.

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Whilst the rugby ball has evolved over time to benefit the needs of the players, women have used the same ball as their male counterparts since the advent of the modern women’s rugby movement in the 1960s. One of the beautiful things about the game is the fact that, unlike basketball, tennis or ice hockey, the laws, pitch and equipment are the same regardless of the gender of the players on the pitch. However, World Rugby are attempting to change this. Following a controversial trial at international age-grade competitions, it was announced in late 2025 that the HSBC Women’s SVNS competition would use a size 4.5 ball for the upcoming season. The new size sits between the two current standard sizes of a child’s size 4 and an adult’s size 5. However, the overwhelming majority of the women’s rugby community is against this move. Wendy Young from YSCRugby launched a Worldwide Ball Size Survey following the announcement and found that 94.9% of those surveyed were against the change¹⁸. Young has pointed out that World Rugby has only released selective data from self-funded studies. Said studies apparently show positive feedback from players and improvements in lineout throwing. However, those who have watched women’s age-grade competitions in recent years will tell you that the size 4.5 has a more erratic bounce and does not carry well in the air when kicked or passed.

Many within the women’s rugby community have been outspoken about the issues that will come with such a change, but none so much as Alice Soper, whose article The World in their Hands¹⁹ explains the issues far better and with more humour than I could. Soper highlights the inequality that women already face within rugby and how a specialised ball could create an even wider divide. If a size 4.5 became standard, grassroots clubs would no longer be able to provide women’s teams with hand-me-down balls²⁰; instead, they would need to purchase separate balls for their women’s sections. Similarly, it could cause issues for nations such as Samoa, who already struggle financially. Upon investigation, size 4.5 balls are available to purchase on the Gilbert website, but on average, they cost £1 more per ball²¹ and are available in only two ‘elite’ styles. Whilst the price may not be prohibitive for many professional or elite clubs, it will be for grassroots clubs across the world and for smaller rugby nations at the elite level.

It also must be said that World Rugby’s introduction of a designated ‘women’s ball’ comes without any real call for one. Whilst odd individual female players may have spoken about smaller balls in the past, the overwhelming majority have never even thought of such an idea. In fact, World Rugby’s concept is based on the idea that female players in their entirety are smaller than their male counterparts, and would therefore benefit from a smaller ball. Whilst it is correct that female second rows are not as large as their male counterparts, they are certainly taller than most male scrum halves. By using World Rugby’s own argument, surely the likes of Antoine Dupont and Craig Casey are at a disadvantage for having to use a size 5 ball.

There are many problems within women’s rugby to which World Rugby could devote its time and money to instead of developing and trailing a cost-prohibitive ball with negligible benefits. For example, women’s specific injury prevention and rehab, equalising the standard of pitches, facilities, coaches and referees, fully professionalising the women’s elite game (including domestic leagues) and working towards eradicating the rampant sexism within rugby. Instead, we’ve been given a smaller ball we haven’t asked for.

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Author’s Note: I hope you are all well and are enjoying your new year! I wanted to begin the year with a short piece on something fun. I didn’t set out to write a piece on size 4.5 balls; however, it felt appropriate as the change could be one of the biggest in rugby history. I would highly recommend checking out both Wendy and Alice’s work on this, along with their other work, if you have not done so already.

In unrelated news, I was recently on BBC Radio Wales talking about my favourite lads, The Scarlets, and the WRU’s schemes. If you would like to listen to a now slightly outdated bit of content, you can find my piece here from approximately one hour and 14 minutes in. If you listened to my segment on the radio and enjoyed me yapping about the Scarlets and Welsh rugby in general, you can find me on the WRRAP podcast every Tuesday.

If you would like more regular updates, please check out my instagram, twitter and/or bluesky. An audio version of this post is also available in all good podcasting locations, and as always, references are below.

-Hattie

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1. Not to be confused with the Eggchasers podcast, nor the very unpleasant host of said podcast. ↩︎
2. Tony Collins, The Oval World: A Global History of Rugby (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2015), pp. 31. ↩︎
3. “About Us,” Gilbert Rugby <https://www.gilbertrugby.com/pages/about-us&gt;. ↩︎
4. World Rugby Museum, “The Evolution of the Rugby Ball,” World Rugby Museum, May 20, 2024 <https://worldrugbymuseum.com/from-the-vaults/evolution-of-rugby/the-evolution-of-the-rugby-ball&gt;. ↩︎
5. Collins, The Oval World: A Global History of Rugby, pp. 32. ↩︎
6. Collins, The Oval World: A Global History of Rugby, pp. 32. ↩︎
7. World Rugby Museum, “The Evolution of the Rugby Ball.” ↩︎
8. Thank you to Optimal Cynic on bluesky for correcting me here, the first version of this post referred to “Indian” rubber rather than India rubber. ↩︎
9. World Rugby Museum, “The Evolution of the Rugby Ball.” ↩︎
10. Nigel Trueman, “Rugby Football History,” Copyright (C) 2006 Nigel Trueman <https://www.rugbyfootballhistory.com/ball.htm&gt;. ↩︎
11. Thomas Hughes, Tom Brown’s School Days (Collins Classics, 2013), pp. 85. ↩︎
12. As much as one can whilst adhering to the limits of using a natural material such as a pig’s bladder. ↩︎
13. Trueman, “Rugby Football History.” ↩︎
14. “Qantas Rugby Exhibition 2007 – The Development of the Rugby Ball” <https://www.rugbyrelics.com/museum/exhibitions/qantas/ball.htm&gt;. ↩︎
15. World Rugby Museum, “The Evolution of the Rugby Ball.” ↩︎
16. Guardian Staff Reporter, “Blood, Mud and Aftershave,” The Guardian, October 19, 2022 <https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2006/feb/05/rugbyunion.features&gt;. ↩︎
17. World Rugby Museum, “The Evolution of the Rugby Ball.” ↩︎
18. Wendy Young, “Demanding Global Accountability: We Launch a Worldwide Ball Size Survey,” Your Scrumhalf Connection – Women’s Rugby News, December 9, 2025 <https://scrumhalfconnection.com/2025/12/09/demanding-global-accountability-we-launch-a-worldwide-ball-size-survey/&gt;. ↩︎
19. Also, the title of the 2022 Martyn Hunter book on the first Women’s World Cup. ↩︎
20. Every team and club I’ve ever played with has had hand-me-down balls from the men’s team. It’s not ideal, but it is reality. ↩︎
21. “Atom Match Ball,” Gilbert Rugby, June 26, 2025 <https://www.gilbertrugby.com/products/atom-match-ball?variant=31728111943735&gt;. ↩︎