Warren Gatland calls for World Cup revamp after stern Portugal test
Warren Gatland believes that a 24-nation Rugby World Cup would help to grow the game.
An expansion from the current 20 countries for Australia 2027 or the United States four years later has been mooted in some quarters.
The current tournament in France has already been highlighted by outstanding performances from lower-ranked teams.
Uruguay pushed France for large parts of a gripping Pool A encounter before losing 27-12, while Portugal gave Gatland’s Wales plenty to ponder and Chile had their moments in games against Japan and Samoa.
“I thought Uruguay were outstanding – it is brilliant for the game,” Wales head coach Gatland said, following a 28-8 victory over Portugal.
“Portugal were fantastic and showed a lot of enterprise, and you could argue that Uruguay were pretty unlucky in a few situations (against France).
“I think it is important that we continue to develop from a rugby perspective to help develop these tier two nations.
“There might be a situation where we can increase the number of teams in the World Cup to 24, and that would continue to help grow the game.
“That is an important aspect. You don’t want top tier nations dominating, you want upsets – as long as I am not a part of it!
“I think it’s a real positive going forward to see teams competing and pushing other teams close.”
Portugal returned to the World Cup stage following a 16-year absence when they tackled Wales at Stade de Nice.
They qualified for the tournament by winning a repechage competition in Dubai, and full-back Nuno Sousa Guedes has no doubt that regular exposure against leading nations is what Portugal require.
Guedes and company made life tough for Wales, trailing by just four points approaching half-time, while they did not concede a bonus-point try until the game’s closing seconds.
“If we could keep playing games like this, it is the main thing,” Guedes said.
“For the kids back home who are starting out, it would be a very good step.
“In Portugal, it is always soccer. We want to show the world that it is not only soccer.
“We have the numbers in terms of rugby and some good kids coming up. I think we have the capacity.”
I think increasing each pool by 1 is a great way to not only allow more lower tier nations but if they adjust the pool standings to (1+2 advance to QF's, 3+4 automatically qualify for the next RWC and 5+6 are left for the qualifying matches) this will allow more lower tier teams a
chance to fight for the 2 spots to qualify as
opposed to the current
1 spot which more often
than not is taken by
either a tier 1 or strong
tier 2. This will mean a
longer tournament but
it's only every 4 years so
an extra 2-3 weeks is
fine by me.
They should slightly follow the 7s format with all the 3rd place teams play a semi & then final based in just one city, then similarly all the 4th place teams in another city and then all the 5th place teams in another city….call them bowl, plate & shield and give the Tier 2 teams some reward to aim for whilst helping them with development
There are already enough teams within Europe to have a European Cup the two years between the World Cup presenting a bigger world stage presence. I think Gatlands idea of increasing the numbers in the World Cup is spot on, USA, Canada, Zambia etc are missing this year both of those countries are increasing with teams.
Why not have games between tier two and tier one tweaked so red card thresholds are lower for the tier one sides.
For example a tier two player not rolling away is ignored whilst a tier one player is red carded and banned for three weeks.
Tier one lifting in the lineouts not allowed and a prop just take all shots at goal whilst flyhalf has to throw into lineouts and Fullback shifted into hooker for the scrums.
What is needed is two 12-team competitions that run concurrently. Portugal played well, but were still easily beaten by a weak Wales team. The Tier 2 nations need to be playing each other more for them to grow. Have a "Tier 2 World Cup" where the winner goes into the Knockout stages for the "Tier 1" World Cup.
It’s certainly a tough call to make, if you’re adding 4 more teams do you add them to make pools of 6 or so you make a fifth pool. I’d love to see more teams in it but if we add more teams squad size should increase as well.
Absolutely agree with this
These nations are the sports future. In a global sense. Better competitions are essential for rugby's growth.