Rugby ball

A rugby ball is an elongated ellipsoidal ball used in both codes of rugby football. Its measurements and weight are specified by World Rugby and the Rugby League International Federation, the governing bodies for both codes, rugby union and rugby league respectively. The rugby ball has an oval shape, four panels and a weight of about 400 grams. It is often confused with some balls of similar dimensions used in American, Canadian and Australian football. William Gilbert and Richard Lindon started making footballs for the neighbouring Rugby School in 1823. The balls had an inner-tube made of a pig's bladder. Both men owned boot and shoe making businesses located close to Rugby school. In 1870, Richard Lindon introduced rubber inner-tubes and because of the pliability of rubber, the shape gradually changed from a sphere to an egg. Lindon and Bernardo Solano started making balls for Rugby School out of hand stitched, leather casings and pigs' bladders. The rugby ball's distinctive shape is supposedly due to the pig's bladder, although early balls were more plum-shape than oval. The balls varied in size in the beginning depending upon how large the pig's bladder was. Around 1862, Richard Lindon was desperate to find a replacement for the pig’s bladder and used an India rubber bladder instead. India rubber was too tough to inflate by mouth and so having been inspired by air syringes, he created a large brass air pump to inflate his rugby balls. Lindon also claimed to invent the rugby ball and its distinctive oval shape but didn't patent his design for either the ball, the bladder or the pump. By the 1880s there were several manufacturers of 'footballs' in England all using the same process. The size and shape of the ball was not written into the rules until 1892, when it was determined as follows: Length 11 to 11 1/4 inches Circumference (end on) 30 to 31 inches Circumference (in width) 25 1/2 to 26 inches Weight: 12 to 13 ounces Hand sewn with not less than 8 stitches to the inch In 1892 the RFU endorsed ovalness as the compulsory shape.