England head coach John Mitchell has hit out at rules that leave him only able to select 32 players in his squad for the World Cup – one fewer than men’s sides are allowed to take to the quadrennial tournament.
Mitchell has guided the Red Roses to a seventh successive Women’s Six Nations title, with a fiercely-fought grand slam decider against France perhaps serving as perfect preparation as England gear up to host the World Cup later this year.
The New Zealander is set to name his group for the tournament in late July with his side playing warm-up games against France and Spain and travelling to Treviso in Italy for a warm weather training camp.
He faces a tough task in narrowing down an exceptionally competitive squad to just 32, with tough decisions to be made all over the pitch. Mitchell intends to take 18 forwards and 14 backs to the tournament – though has questioned why counterpart Steve Borthwick and his fellow male coaches were able to take an extra player to the 2023 men’s World Cup in France.
A squad size of 30 for the women’s tournament was upped by two spots for the last World Cup in New Zealand, with that figure remaining in place, but the vastly-experienced Mitchell would like the flexibility that an extra body could provide.
“It seems strange that the men’s World Cup is 33 and we’re only 32 and the teams have to come all this way,” Mitchell, who has worked at World Cups in the men’s game with the All Blacks, England and Japan, said. “It must be [because of] budget.
“I think World Rugby will probably need to consider it going forward because otherwise you are going to have to wait for players to be flown from overseas. They create [other] rules around it, even for the home team – I don’t think you can bring people in immediately. I think you have to wait until the 24 hours flight rule or whatever it is because the overseas teams would have to wait to bring their players in. I think 33 seems to be the right number, like [in] the men’s game.”
The pool stages are shorter at the women’s World Cup than in the men’s tournament, with sides playing three games instead of four. While England now have 32 players on full-time professional contracts, a number of nations to have qualified for the event will field sides largely or entirely comprised of amateurs who have jobs outside of rugby or are studying.
It is understood that while it is too late to expand squad sizes for the 2025 tournament, World Rugby would consider a possible expansion for 2029, which will be hosted by Australia. The United States will host the 2033 World Cup.
Mitchell will be boosted by the return of defence coach Sarah Hunter from maternity leave ahead of the tournament, with Nathan Catt – who fulfilled the brief on a temporary basis during the Women’s Six Naitons – reverting back to a scrum-focussed role. Mitchell does not intend to add further coaches to his staff, which also includes attack coach Lou Meadows and forwards coach Louis Deacon in key roles.
England have not won the World Cup since 2014 but will be heavily favoured to triumph on home soil, with the final scheduled for 27 September at Twickenham.
