After losing his rugby loving Dad to cancer in 2021, Matt Underwood’s mum suggested making a wooden rugby ball urn, a challenging task very different to his usual woodturning work.

The ball received such great feedback that Matt was inspired to make more as it’s such a niche market. A lot of time and investment has been spent to make these rugby ball urns as perfect as they can be, often working to precision of 0.2mm (two sheets of paper!).

Based out of his family-home workshop, Matt will often process the wood from field to finished article and urns can take from a week to a year to make. One of the highlight features are the near seamless threaded lids, which are also made from wood. They are scaled off a full size rugby ball and have a capacity of 3.5 – 4 litres.

“I love making the rugby ball urns now. They combine two of my passions and I enjoy the whole process. They are so unique, and I love designing new patterns and incorporating all the different woods to make them as contrasting and beautiful as possible.”

Find out more at www.rugbyballurns.com