Matt Sherratt confidently stepping into Wales role for remainder of Six Nations tournament

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Matt Sherratt faces intense pressure as he takes charge of Wales for the remainder of their Six Nations campaign. Expectations remain high despite a tough start, and Sherratt must quickly implement his ideas while managing a squad in transition. With passionate Welsh fans demanding improvement, every decision will be scrutinised. Can he rally the team and salvage a strong finish, or will the challenges prove too great? The coming weeks will be a true test of his leadership.

Transcript

00:00Well, Charles Warren Gatland has gone as head coach of the Wales rugby team. It was probably

00:07a bit overdue. You know, he's had some great success with the Welsh rugby team, but overall,

00:13to lead them to a record amount of losses in a row, it was always coming and it couldn't

00:18go on. Now he's gone. It's Matt Sherratt taking temporary charge until the end of the Six

00:24Nations. So he, of course, doesn't start very easily for him, does it? It's Ireland

00:29first who are a great team at the moment in world rugby. So it's hard to see a Welsh win,

00:37but it's just a case of, in this game, poor Matt Sherratt managing the losses and just

00:42making Wales seem a little bit more respectable as a side against a team like Ireland, who

00:47clearly have the ability, the quality at the moment, to really tear them apart if they

00:53get on it. So for Wales, they just need to make it resolute and be dogged about things.

00:58So not an easy day for Matt Sherratt, certainly, but one where he could come out with a little

01:02bit of credit.

01:03Yeah, obviously, pride's up for play massively. You know, that completely diminished by the

01:08end of Warren Gatland's time and you were sort of on the fence, as you say. It was very,

01:13very possibly overdue, if you look back in hindsight, of Warren Gatland. You know, him

01:18stepping down, of course, and Matt Sherratt coming into the interim. And, you know, this

01:22is something very, very unusual for a manager to take charge halfway through or a few games

01:28into a Six Nations campaign, one of the biggest tournaments in world rugby, really. You know,

01:34it was that bad under Gatland. There was talks of a playoff for Six Nations in the future

01:39where European Championship winners would come in and replace the bottom team in the

01:44Six Nations. It looks like Wales are destined to go back-to-back in wooden spoons. So that

01:50doesn't bode well for them. What does bode well for them, maybe, is a bit of a positive,

01:54is Dan Sheehan. Will capped in Ireland for the first time on Saturday because of Caelan

01:59Dorris's injury. He's ruled out. I know another positive is it's at Wales, it's in Cardiff.

02:07You know, that gives a chance to really get a bit more of a reset-button push in terms

02:12of the home fans, the home support, that had gone a bit dry after, you know, understandably

02:18their sort of worst run ever. You know, one thing that you have to say is it's a big job.

02:24It's, you know, they're fighting for real pride. But they have had, he has had some

02:28great praise, Matt Sherratt, in terms of, you know, ex-Ireland players saying, you know,

02:33this is the guy who short-term is an unbelievable solution for Wales. He's been fantastic at

02:39Cardiff. He knows a lot of the players through his work at Cardiff and at Bristol as well

02:44in terms of his rugby career. So he's got a tight-knit bunch and hopefully, as I say,

02:49the home crowd can get behind him. And yes, it's going to be an incredibly tough battle

02:53against Ireland, a flying side in the Six Nations, but one they will hope to get a bit

02:59of pride from.

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