To the point of the thread.
I noticed in another thread than Andrew (Glassjet) and Ruard were discussing rod length for fishing soft hackles. (See Fishing Cabin/Andrew Dry) and the use of longer leaders.
I thought I may share this small diagram with you. It is how I explain it to my clients. You will see that all rod length/line/leader combination is all relevant and using smaller rods versus a longer rod very much depends on where and how you are fishing.

I guess the point is not to be too rigid on rod size, it is more important on how you fish them and leader length.