Sam Warburton has laid out his new plan to save Welsh rugby and admitted he has changed his mind over whether to cut a region.

The former Wales captain - who has been suggested by the likes of Sir Clive Woodward as a prime candidate to join the Welsh Rugby Union as a director of rugby - has welcomed the union's review into the current state of the game in Wales but admits that whether Warren Gatland stays on as head coach is the least of his worries.

Writing in his column for The Times, Warburton says that even if a change of coach is made, it will not solve the underlying issues that run far deeper in the national game. The most pressing of these for the 36-year-old is player identification, as he explained how rugby is no longer a game for all shapes and sizes and that Wales need to find 'physical specimens' who will be suited to the international game.

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"Wales need to start identifying their athletes younger, because what we have at the moment is a group where too many of them — and I have to stress that it is not all of them — are not at the athletic and physical level required for Test rugby," he wrote. "You can quickly see at the age of 15 or 16 whether a player has got the genetic capability to be an international.

"When you look at the athletic profiles of [most] positions, you can be as skilled as you like, but if your parents or yourself don’t show a phenotype that is suited to international rugby, then you might be fine to be a regional player but you’re not going to be world-class. There’s got to be a huge emphasis in Wales on finding those physical specimens."

Explaining how rugby has "moved on massively," Warburton added: "It is always said that rugby is a game for all shapes and sizes, but I don’t agree with that any more. It’s quickly moving away from that. It is now a game for big, athletic, powerful, fit, durable athletes. We need to get better at making the right assessments at a younger age."

In that regard, Warburton welcomed the WRU's recent decision to select a group of up to 60 players of ’national interest’ between the ages of 15-24, but added that they needed expert provision while those outside the group - across the four regions and up in north Wales - should also not be neglected.

As for the teams these players are playing in, the ex-Cardiff star said he had changed his mind on whether to cut a region and now sides with former Wales team-mate Jonathan Davies in believing the number now has to be reduced to three, as there is not enough money or quality players to sustain the current model.

Warburton added that a reduction in the number of regions would need to be met with a plan to improve the quality of the level below - pointing at Super Rygbi Cymru - with the aim of bringing back another regional side in the future. However, while he said that "the time for doing nothing is over", the former Wales skipper warned it would be another three years before any changes came to fruition and the national team would realistically be able to compete for the Six Nations title again.

"I know this will upset a lot of people, but I think the time for trying to keep everyone happy in Welsh rugby has gone," he wrote. "Difficult decisions need to be made. We can tick along as we are and keep sliding down the rankings, with attendances and participation falling, or we can act decisively."