New hall into play

Press, 18 April 1979, Page 14

New hall into play

The hottest property item in any ruebv club at present is an Adidas ball, now being made in Auckland. The company, Astra Fine Leatherware, makes two models. The “international” has the four panels of high quality chrome leather hand sewn while the “club” is a machine-sewn ball. Thev sei! for $59.99 and $39.99 respectively. The New Zealand manufacturers have to meet rigid qualitv control specifications with one ball out of every batch being sent to France for checking. If that ball is found to have a defect the whole batch is withdrawn from sale. The major feature of Adidas rugby balls is that they are manufactured without the traditional lace. The valve from the bladder is simply con-

nected to one of the panels. Top players who have used the ball here and overseas say they are great for punting, passing and drop-kicking but practice is required to develop accurate place-kicking. Remembering the furore during the All Black tour of South Africa a few years ago when the authorities there introduced the New Zealanders to an eight-panel ball it will be interesting to learn whether Adidas balls will be used in the internationals against France and Argentina this winter. It is the only rugby ball used in France, but because of marketing and production schedules it was not possible to produce sufficient in New Zealand to guarantee complete availability this season.