| The name GILBERT has been identifiable with the game of Rugby Union Football since its inception and since those early days the GILBERT Rugby Union ball has been used by almost every rugby union playing nation in the world, and at all levels of the game.
James Gilbert was meticulous in everything he did, from keeping accounts, to ensuring that every GILBERT ball retained and upheld the company's reputation for excellence. He wrote countless letters to keep the GILBERT name at the forefront of the game and it was largely through his efforts that the GILBERT Rugby Union football was exported to the major rugby playing countries of the world particularly New Zealand, South Africa and Australia. He checked and stamped every Match football personally to make sure it was of the highest quality.
Each nation had its own preferences with Australia and New Zealand favouring the pointed (Torpedo) shape and South Africa the 8-panel which offered better grip. In Britain, Ireland and France, most balls were now of 4-panel construction but 6 panels were still in use. Player pressure resulted in the balls being reduced in size by one inch by GILBERT, which subsequently lead to a change in rules in 1932.
The Rugby Union World Cup in Australia in 2003 once again showcased the latest in GILBERT’s Rugby Union football development, the Xact match ball. As a result of the football’s performance in the lead up to this tournament both New Zealand All Blacks and The British and Irish Lions switched their allegiance to GILBERT’s balls joining South Africa, England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, France and a host of other nations, clubs and tournaments around the world.
Not content to rest on its laurels, Gilbert had already commenced the development of the next generation of balls. The Xact technology was radically enhanced for the 2005 World Cup Sevens in Hong Kong where a patented star-shaped grip pattern – the first ever departure from round pimples – delivered outstanding handling performance in play.
GILBERT have developed a new Rugby Union football for each Rugby Union World Cup since 1995 and the 2007 edition, in France, once more was played using the latest in high-performance ball technology. Extensive research involving some of the world’s top players was used to support theoretical data produced by Computational Fluid Dynamic analysis and high-speed video analysis. The patented surface technology on the new synergie match ball is unique to GILBERT and has arisen by combining the existing pimple patterns of the Xact and Xact-7 match balls and the application of basic aerodynamic principles. Combining this high-grade rubber surface technology with a reaction laminate construction, a figure of eight bladder and GILBERT’s patented Trueflight ™ valve, the brand’s engineers have once more pushed back the boundaries of match ball development. Gilbert has been the Official Match Ball of the ‘Super 14’ competition since its inception and is the Official Ball of the Waratahs, Reds and Brumbies. |
