Warren Gatland calls for World Cup expansion to 24 teams to grow game
Warren Gatland believes that a 24-team Rugby World Cup would help to grow the game.
An expansion from the current 20 countries for Australia 2027 or the US 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 match before losing 27-12, while Portugal gave Gatland’s Wales plenty to ponder and Chile had their moments in games against Japan and Samoa.
Samoa’s Lima Sopoaga makes plea for lost childhood rugby union kicking tee
Read more
“I thought Uruguay were outstanding – it is brilliant for the game,” the Wales head coach said after a 28-8 victory against Portugal in Nice.
“Portugal were fantastic and showed a lot of enterprise, and you could argue that Uruguay were pretty unlucky in a few situations [against France].
“It is important that we continue, 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 after a 16-year absence when they faced Wales at Stade de Nice. They qualified for the tournament by winning a repechage competition in Dubai, and the full-back Nuno Sousa Guedes has no doubt that regular exposure against leading nations is what Portugal require.
Sign up to The Breakdown
Free weekly newsletter
The latest rugby union news and analysis, plus all the week's action reviewed
Enter your email address
Sign up
Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
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.”