I was intrigued to hear recently that World Rugby is trialling a slightly smaller rugby ball for the women’s game – a size 4.5 instead of the usual size 5. The reason: women’s hands are on average 10-15% smaller than men’s, so it could be argued that women players need a smaller ball.

The ball they are trying out is the same weight but 3% smaller than the men’s ball – maybe the mathematically inclined amongst my readers will be able to tell me why the ball is only 3% smaller, rather than 10-15% smaller?

Opinions on the new ball are divided. Some players welcome it and think the experiment is overdue. Others feel that because the ball is smaller, there is less surface area for them to kick accurately. Youth teams have reported positively enough on the smaller ball that it is now being tried out at an elite level.

It made me think about the fact that there is still no such thing (at least no widely available thing) as a slightly smaller piano keyboard for people with smaller hands. I’ve read that these smaller keyboards do exist, but in all my encounters with concert hall pianos, I have never been offered a smaller keyboard as an alternative. I’ve read that there wouldn’t even have to be a whole different piano – apparently a technician could easily remove the standard keyboard from the instrument and slot in a smaller one instead. But I’ve never seen one.

It crossed my mind this morning that at this point, when I’ve been playing the standard size keyboard for a very long time, I might almost resent being given the chance to swap to a keyboard adapted to my smaller hand. I can’t quite articulate why I think I might feel this way – I suppose it is a kind of Stockholm Syndrome, where a prisoner develops feelings of loyalty and positivity towards their captor.