Meg Jones on WXV's smaller trial ball for women

England captain Meg Jones says the smaller ball being trialled at the forthcoming WXV Global Series "rewards perfection" but wants to wait until the tournament is over before passing full judgement.

World Rugby has introduced a bespoke women's ball, size 4.5, for the competition involving the sport's top 12 sides. It is 3 per cent smaller than the Standard size 5 but carries the same weight. The governing body says the ball is "specially designed to suit female players" and offers a "better platform for showcasing handling skills".

Not everyone in the England camp agrees. When the trial was announced in May, fly-half Zoe Harrison called it the "worst decision someone has ever made", and opinion within the squad has been split ever since.

Jones, speaking ahead of the series, struck a more measured tone.

"I'm not one to be complaining about it because it's here now, we can't do anything about it," Jones said. "We'll perform regardless of the size of the ball. It's an interesting area to deliver on an international stage, but I'll give feedback when needed. They reward perfection a little bit. The margin of error is a lot smaller – you see a little bit more dying of the ball with passing. It's been a while getting used to it. I know some girls are getting a little bit frustrated, but the nature of it is that it's here now and we'll work well with it and we'll do our best. Will it elevate the game? It's hard to say. To keep the ball alive more with offloads etc…it's got a little bit fatter in the middle so I don't know if it helps us necessarily in that Respect. It's an interesting topic and we'll see how it pans out."

John Mitchell's world champions open their six-Test WXV campaign against Australia at CorpAcq Stadium on Saturday. Further fixtures follow against Canada, three times, New Zealand and the United States.