England Fly-Half Zoe Harrison Calls Smaller Rugby Balls 'Worst Decision Ever Made'

England fly-half Zoe Harrison called the introduction of smaller balls for this autumn's WXV Global Series "the worst decision someone has ever made."

Size 4.5 balls, about 3 percent smaller but the same weight as a regulation size five, will be used for the tournament in September and October.

World Rugby held a trial for female players on the top-tier Sevens circuit in November and announced last month that the smaller balls would also be used by the world's best 15-a-side players in the upcoming WXV.

England will face Canada, which they beat in last year's Rugby World Cup final, three times as part of the new showcase for women's Test rugby. The Red Roses also have home fixtures against Australia and New Zealand during an eight-week international window.

"It's the worst decision that someone has ever made," Harrison told BBC Sport. She said she only learned about the trial when journalists asked her.

"I've not kicked any less than a size five since I was the age of 14. There is not the same amount of surface area for you to wrap your foot around."

Men's hands are about 10 to 15 percent bigger than women's hands. Other sports have made accommodations for female body types, such as lower sprint hurdles in athletics or lighter and smaller basketballs.

The aim of the smaller rugby ball is to make the women's equipment proportionate to the men's game, promoting accuracy, fewer handling errors and a greater reward for running the ball.

But critics have said it may damage the image of the women's game and increase costs for grassroots clubs.

World Rugby has tweaked its trial. A previous version of the size 4.5 used in the 2024 Under-18 Six Nations was lighter than a size five, before weight was added back in to allay kickers' concerns.

The governing body says it has had positive responses from players who have tried the current version.

"Along with the sevens players, we'll carefully take stock of player feedback, injury surveillance and shape of the game data from the WXV Global Series," said World Rugby's chief player welfare and rugby services officer Mark Harrington. "From there, together with the wider women's game, we'll assess the findings and look at where we go next."

Harrison is on a hot streak off the tee in the Women's Six Nations. She has landed all 15 kicks she has taken at goal so far in the tournament, nailing conversions from across the width of the pitch.

Harrison is giving her superb form less thought. "I mean it's good that it's happened, but... I don't know, it's my job," she told BBC Sport.

The 28-year-old is as straightforward in her approach to kicking as she is to questions about it. Her pre-kick routine is quick, simple and without any of the quirks and twitches that characterize some others.

"I put the ball down, line it up, take a couple of steps back and just kick the ball," she added. "That might seem really unserious, but that is just the way it has worked until now. If I think about it more, it doesn't work in my favour. You just get in your own head - you think you have to do this or that and really you just have to kick the ball."

Behind the scenes and in her backstory, Harrison has worked hard to make it look, and sound, so easy.

A keen Chelsea fan, she played football alongside her rugby until a move to Hartpury College and its dedicated rugby program at 16 focused her exclusively on all matters oval.

"I think the reason I can kick a ball so far is having a ball around your feet growing up gives you an ability to kick and an understanding of how to kick balls," she said. "They are very different sports and if I put a football around my feet now, my rugby kicking can go off a little bit, but I think that football past is the reason I have an ability to kick as I do."