2 Squad number of players scenario

According to the way that I read the rules......

If both teams start with lets say 9 players,,,,,,,, then the half ends and one team loses any amount of players lets say lose 2 and now have only 7 for second half....

according to rules the second half must now be played at 7 players.

I believe that if the first half starts with 9 players on each side , then the new minimum for that match should stay at 9 players even if that means that they must fly short for the second half.

Any thoughts?

topic started in UK thread also