{"id":42065,"date":"2026-05-07T04:28:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T04:28:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/rugby-union-weekly-womens-six-nations-smaller-balls-and-bigger-crowds\/"},"modified":"2026-05-07T04:28:19","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T04:28:19","slug":"rugby-union-weekly-womens-six-nations-smaller-balls-and-bigger-crowds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/rugby-union-weekly-womens-six-nations-smaller-balls-and-bigger-crowds\/","title":{"rendered":"Rugby Union Weekly &#8211; Women\u2019s Six Nations: Smaller balls and bigger crowds"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"sw-text-body-copy sw-pt-4 sw-text-secondary\">Available for over a year<\/p>\n<p class=\"sw-text-body-copy sw-whitespace-pre-line sw-pt-4 sw-text-secondary\">Should the women\u2019s game be using smaller balls? The debate is back on the agenda after Zoe Harrison\u2019s interview with Sara about the decision to use size 4.5 balls at this autumn&#8217;s WXV Global Series. Kat Merchant and Philippa Tuttiett give their views on ball trial, and discuss whether it is a backwards step for the game. We also examine the state of the women\u2019s game in Italy as they prepare to face the Red Roses after an impressive victory over Scotland. Ticket sales for Ireland\u2019s big date at the Aviva continue to fly off the shelf. Can Wales build on their bonus point against England and cause a big upset in Belfast?<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/programmes\/p0njqzxz\" aria-label=\"Programme Website of Women&#x2019;s Six Nations: Smaller balls and bigger crowds\" data-testid=\"programme-website-link\" class=\"sw-group sw-inline-flex sw-items-center sw-pt-4\"><span class=\"sw-text-primary sw-font-bold sw-transition sw-ease sw-transition-colors sw-duration-350 motion-reduce:sw-transition-none group-active:sw-text-accent group-active:sw-underline group-focus-visible:sw-text-accent group-focus-visible:sw-underline group-hover:sw-text-accent group-hover:sw-underline sw-text-brevier\">Programme Website<\/span><svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"16px\" height=\"16px\" viewbox=\"0 0 32 32\" class=\"sw-ease sw-transition motion-reduce:sw-transition-none sw-duration-350 sw-transition sw-ease sw-duration-350 motion-reduce:sw-transition-none sw-ml-2 sw-ml-1 sw-inline-block sw-fill-accent\" aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\"><path d=\"M21.9,16.9v11.5H3.7V10.2h11.1V7.6H1V31h23.6V16.9H21.9z M18,1v2.6h10.2l-0.5-1.1L11,19l1.9,1.9L29.6,4.3l-1.2-0.5V14H31V1 H18z\"\/><\/svg><\/a><button class=\"sw-group sw-text-pica sw-block sw-w-fit sw-pt-4\"><span class=\"sw-text-primary sw-font-bold sw-transition sw-ease sw-transition-colors sw-duration-350 motion-reduce:sw-transition-none group-active:sw-text-accent group-active:sw-underline group-focus-visible:sw-text-accent group-focus-visible:sw-underline group-hover:sw-text-accent group-hover:sw-underline sw-mr-0.5\">Show less<\/span><svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"0.75rem\" height=\"0.75rem\" viewbox=\"0 0 32 32\" class=\"sw-ease sw-transition motion-reduce:sw-transition-none sw-duration-350 sw-ml-1 sw-mt-1 sw-inline-block sw-fill-accent\" aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\"><path d=\"M0 18L16 0l16 18z\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/sounds\/play\/p0njqzxz?at_medium=RSS&#038;at_campaign=rss\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Available for over a year Should the women\u2019s game be using smaller balls? The debate is back on the agenda after Zoe Harrison\u2019s interview with Sara about the decision to use size 4.5 balls at this autumn&#8217;s WXV Global Series. Kat Merchant and Philippa Tuttiett give their views on ball trial, and discuss whether it [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":42066,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42065"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42065"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42065\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42067,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42065\/revisions\/42067"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42066"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42065"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42065"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42065"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}