John Mitchell, the England head coach, believes that the introduction of a smaller ball could lead to more contestable kicking in the women’s game with the Red Roses boss unsure of the consequences of a controversial trial.
As first revealed by The Independent, a smaller, bespoke size 4.5 ball will be in use throughout the international fixtures that form part of the reshaped WXV Global Series this September and October.
England fly half Zoe Harrison branded the trial as the “worst decision ever” during the Women’s Six Nations, with a number of other figures within the sport known to have questions over whether it was needed after previous experimentation within the SVNS series.
The world champions play home games against Canada, Australia and New Zealand next month before travelling to North America for two more meetings with the Canadians, who they beat in last year’s World Cup final, and a fixture against the United States in New Jersey.
The Red Roses’ kickers and key ball handlers were provided with the smaller balls in advance of coming into camp ahead of their international itinerary, and Mitchell is uncertain what impact they may have on their game and that of their rivals.
“It’s not something that is even obvious, really. I’m sure each individual will have different feelings as they go through the adaptation of playing with it.
“I’m not sure if the evidence is skewed, but there was definitely evidence that World Rugby made the decision on. At the end of the day, it all comes down to coaching. If you want to get better of something, regardless of the size of the ball, it’s all about coaching. I think our girls have been well coached through their careers with the bigger size ball, and they seem to have adapted very well.
“I’m not sure [what the impacts will be]. It might help other teams. I’m all for it for development. If you’ve got younger players and we want to keep them in the game and build confidence, I’m all for that.
“I think it’s too early for me to say that it is going to help our offloading game or our width of pass. I’m sure there might be consequences as well. There might be more contestable kicking, which is probably something we want to keep away from our game because it is a point of difference between us and the men.
“Will passes drop away? Will kicks go less far? All those things need to be answered and I think the sample at the moment is too small.”
England’s squad have been joined in camp this week by Zoe Stratford, Rosie Galligan, Abbie Ward and Lark Atkin-Davies, who are all on maternity leave.
The latter pair have welcomed newborns in the last few weeks, with locks Stratford and Galligan due to give birth shortly.
Mitchell has been in regular touch with the quartet with a view to welcoming them back into his squad when they feel ready to return.
“I pay more attention to the relationship and keeping them abreast of how we’re moving our game forward, and how that applies to the role that will be required of them.
“Clearly, when they do decide to come back, our medical team and S&C team have great plans, and their biggest focus will be their physical standards. We’ve experienced that before with Abbie, and she’s now understood how that works.”
