Schmidt calls for larger World Cup squads in interests of player welfare

JOE SCHMIDT believes the size of Rugby World Cup squads should be expanded in the interests of player welfare.

Ideally, the Ireland supremo would like to be allowed to select 34 players to go to Japan for the upcoming tournament but would settle for an increase of one, to 32.

Schmidt will submit his provisional 31-man squad on Monday, before confirming it after the final warm-up game against Wales in a week’s time.

It is understood World Rugby had offered to increase the number of players allowed at the tournament at the expense of back-room team members, but this was rejected by unions.

Yet the Ireland coach believes 31 is not enough.

“As a coach, you’d always love to have 34 but I think even just one more player would make a difference,” he said.

“I think 32 would make a difference because when you’ve got a five or a four-day turnaround you know that you’ve got three specialist positions, hooker, scrum-half and out-half.

“If you take three hookers, which you are really bound to, you could take three scrum-halves and three outhalves but it’s very difficult, so one of them is going to have to back up.

“Now he might start one and be on the bench on the other but then you get one injury to one of those players and say a guy gets replaced after 60 minutes,” Schmidt added.

“A guy gets an injury that’s going to keep him out for two weeks or say he gets a red card, you can’t replace him under the laws of World Rugby.

“So suddenly your squad size is 30 and you’ve only got one scrum-half and he’s going to have to play the whole time.

“So try to solve those conundrums, if you could have 32 and have three scrum-halves and three out-halves and three hookers, plus you know you have to have five props because you can’t play a game of rugby without four qualified props.

“As soon as you get a prop injury or prop suspension, or even if a prop gets ill on the eve of a game, you’ve got to have someone else who can play that position.

“When you add all those numbers up you’re starting to get skinny in the back and second-rows and a little bit skinny in the back five, so I think 32 will help teams for sure.”

Today’s penultimate warm-up game doubles up as a final trial for a host of players on the margins of the squad for the World Cup.

Schmidt’s men can replace Wales as the world’s No 1-ranked team with a win of 15 points or more, but their focus will be on getting back to winning ways after last week’s record loss to England.