Sherratt opens up on state of Welsh rugby
SPOTLIGHT: Matt Sherratt wants Wales to “lay a foundation” for Warren Gatland’s long-term successor as head coach during a two-Test tour of Japan in July.
Cardiff boss Sherratt will resume interim head coach duty for a trip that starts in Kitakyushu on July 5.
Sherratt took charge of Wales’ final three Six Nations games this season after Gatland departed following a defeat against Italy in Rome.
Wales ended their Six Nations campaign with a record 68-14 home loss to England and have suffered 17 successive Test defeats, starting with the 2023 World Cup quarter-final against Argentina.
Sherratt has named a 33-strong squad for the Japan tour, with Ospreys hooker Dewi Lake chosen as captain.
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Here is your3️⃣3️⃣-man squad for our two Test series in Japan this summer 💪⤵
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“Being a Lions year, with two players away and a couple of other experienced players unavailable, it was important to get some experience in the squad,” Sherratt said.
“Probably big picture-wise, if I am honest, the development angle should be left to the next guy coming in, in terms of some younger boys he wants to look at.
A big part of doing it when I was asked a couple of weeks ago was laying a foundation for the next guy coming in. I don’t think it is our job as coaches to look at the big picture.
“It is just about getting some familiarity there, and with the world rankings and Japan being one place behind, it is about going there and trying to get a result.
“I would love for the next guy to look at the team and think there is something to build on and not have that losing record around their neck.”
Sherratt will have a new team of assistant coaches alongside him for appointments with Eddie Jones’ Japan in Kitakyushu and then Kobe seven days later.
Jonathan Humphreys and Mike Forshaw, who were part of Gatland’s coaching staff throughout his second spell in charge, will not be involved this summer.
Harlequins head coach Danny Wilson and scrum specialist Adam Jones will join Sherratt on the tour, in addition to Gloucester’s TR Thomas and Cardiff defence coach Gethin Jenkins, all on a secondment basis. Jones and Thomas worked alongside Sherratt during the Six Nations.
“The Welsh Rugby Union were pretty clear they wanted to take an interim staff. I think it was important, with the limited time, that we had worked together before,” Sherratt added.
“I’ve worked with Danny at Cardiff, I work with Gethin now, Gethin and TR have worked together, Adam Jones has played with them. It is a familiar staff, and having staff harmony rubs off on the players.”
Sherratt has selected six uncapped players in Keelan Giles, Macs Page, Reuben Morgan-Williams, Liam Belcher, Chris Coleman and Garyn Phillips.
Fly-half Sam Costelow, prop Archie Griffin and lock Ben Carter, meanwhile, all return after missing the Six Nations through injury.
But Exeter captain Dafydd Jenkins will undergo surgery this summer and misses out along with Scarlets prop Henry Thomas, who the WRU say will seek specialist opinion on a long-term condition, while locks Adam Beard and Will Rowlands are rested.
Gloucester back Max Llewellyn is also injured, but there are no places for the likes of Llewellyn’s club colleagues Gareth Anscombe and Josh Hathaway, Saracens centre Nick Tompkins, Scarlets wing Ellis Mee and Cardiff flanker James Botham.
