The 2015 Rugby World Cup will see Gilbert rugby balls being used. Photo / File
The 2015 Rugby World Cup will see Gilbert rugby balls being used. Photo / File
The chance of Dan Carter blowing a rugby ball to smithereens at this year's Rugby World Cup is unlikely - much to the relief of rugby pundits nationwide.
With the concern of bursting rugby balls arising after an adidas ITM Cup match ball exploded last Saturday during Northland's round twoclash versus Southland at Toll Stadium - the wind looks to have blown away any fears of the same anomaly happening on the world stage, given that the official 2015 Rugby World Cup balls will be Gilbert branded balls.
"It's a highly unusual occurrence," adidas New Zealand spokesman Quentin Bleakley said of their adidas game ball exploding last Saturday.
Bleakley said adidas were not aware of the rare occurrence happening in previous instances, but there would be an inquest into what caused the ball to deflate in such dramatic fashion, four minutes into Saturday's ITM Cup fixture.
"We will get the product back and evaluate it for wear, tear and usage. The product team was advised of the issue and has started looking into it. It is likely that we will send the ball to headquarters in Germany, where our product team is based, for them to evaluate the ball."
Yet to receive the ball, Bleakly said adidas would not comment further on the issue until the ball - which was couriered to adidas by the Northland Rugby Union on Tuesday - is received by their product team.
