Wales head coach Warren Gatland has denied that his side broke any rules after they were issued with an official warning by World Rugby.

It follows what World Rugby describes as "an apparent breach" of the World Cup terms of participation agreement regarding training arrangements.

Wales included a number of players from outside their 31-man World Cup squad during a training session in Surrey on Wednesday.

Speaking at a press conference in Sunbury, Gatland told reporters: "I am sure you've all read the statement.

"We haven't broken any rules. According to World Rugby, we've broken the spirit of the rules, so I don't know what that means.

"We haven't done anything underhand, and I don't know what we've done wrong.

"You've either got rules or no rules, so what does spirit of the rules mean? It's either in the rules or not."

Gatland's fierce defence comes after World Rugby released a statement confirming that Wales had been issued with a warning. The statement read as follows: "The Wales team has been issued with an official warning following an apparent breach of the spirit of the Rugby World Cup 2015 terms of participation regarding team training arrangements, and specifically the inclusion of a number of players from outside the selected 31 player squad for a training session yesterday.

"Having reviewed the matter, World Rugby is satisfied that no deliberate breach was intended.

"And in addition to the formal warning to the Welsh team, all participating teams have been informed that additional players from the extended national team squad, including potential injury replacements, may not participate in any training sessions."