Aren’t Gilbert Rugby Balls Supposed To Be The Best?
I would suggest the Gilbert GTR3000 is the best valued training ball from Gilbert. Everyone who has heard of rugby knows the Gilbert brand, it’s rugby balls are shown in almost every marketing shot or news story that mentions rugby. Clubs across the world use Gilbert rugby balls so, you would think they are the best available for sure. There are some great training balls on the market though that aren’t Gilbert branded but were very similar in style. So Gilbert’s development team introduced a drastic change to the grip on their training ball range. Enter the ‘Tri-Grip’ which is available on the GTR3000 and GTR4000 training balls.
Tell Me About The Tri-Grip On These Rugby Balls
The Tri-Grip was rolled out fully in 2019 and took some players time to adapt to. It is my belief that sports players resist change as they like what they know and can be slow to adapt to innovation. The Tri-Grip is a new style of grip which is triangular in shape rather than the traditional rounded pimple grips. Gilbert claim it is more hardwearing and has a larger surface area to grip the ball. It does seem to be reliable in all weather conditions which is ideal for clubs and schools, looking for a great value all round ball.
What Sizes Are Available?
A nice feature of the Gilbert GTR3000 training rugby balls is the colour coding for each size. How many times have you been on the field coaching and the ball sizes get mixed up? It can then be time consuming to sort through them in to the correct size. Within this range, the balls are only available in one colour per size so if you have a number of teams using the same size, on the same training ground, then they can get mixed up. That isn’t a problem if coaches are happy to have the correct number of balls returned at the end of the session. The colour options are as follows
- Red/White – Size 3
- Green/White – Size 4
- Blue/White – Size 5
The Gilbert GTR3000 rugby balls are constructed with a 2 ply poly-cotton and polyester laminate which is then applied to the rubber outer surface. This then enters the heat press for the grip to be moulded onto. The 2 ply construction helps to keep the costs down making them cheaper than the GTR4000 model. As with most training balls, the valve is within a panel rather than inline (within the seam), this helps keep the costs down during the manufacturing and stitching process.
| Graphics and colour availability | 9/10 |
| Size available – Size 3, 4 and 5 | 10/10 |
| Weight and feel of the GTR3000 | 8/10 |
| Affordability | 9/10 |
| Grip | 8/10 |
| Overall rating of the Gilbert GTR3000 | 8.8/10 |
The GTR3000 balls are the best value Gilbert training ball available however, if you do have a larger budget I would suggest buying the GTR4000 ball as it is more robust and will arguably last a bit longer. Both the GTR3000 and GTR4000 balls ahve a butyl bladder so retain the air for longer than more expensive models.
