Matt Sherratt’s forthright response to Wales’ hiding by England as tenure ends in record-breaking fashion
Wales interim coach Matt Sherratt and his players against England.
Wales interim head coach Matt Sherratt could not hide his disappointment after his side suffered a record 68-14 Six Nations thrashing against England in Cardiff on Saturday.
The humiliating defeat means Wales extend their losing streak to 17 Tests, which is a record for a Tier One nation during the professional era.
England dominated from the outset at the Principality Stadium and eventually outscored their hosts by 10 tries to two and the result was Wales‘ heaviest loss in Cardiff and the most points they’ve conceded at Test level on home soil.
Back-to-back wooden spoons for Wales
That result also means Wales have now lost 11 successive Six Nations matches and they had the ignominy of finishing with back-to-back wooden spoons for the first time.
Sherratt took over the coaching reins from legendary Wales coach Warren Gatland after they suffered a 22-15 defeat to Italy in Round Two.
Saturday’s performance against the Red Rose is a far cry from the display Wales delivered in Sherratt’s first match in charge against Ireland in Cardiff where they put up a gallant fight before losing 27-18.
“Very disappointed,” Sherratt told reporters after the defeat against England. “I’ve been here three weeks so it’s not about me. It’s them (the Wales players) I feel for. It looked like a game too many.
“It’s been a long eight weeks and it’s been emotional. Little things didn’t go our way and it opened up some wounds.
“They’re good lads. I think they just need some support. There’s going to be some fresh appointments. Today is disappointing. It’s devastating for the players.”
England dominated from the outset and had already secured a try-scoring bonus point at half-time as they held a 33-7 lead at the interval.
The visitors’ pack deserve plenty of credit as they dominated the forward exchanges with flanker Ben Curry delivering an outstanding performance which saw him rewarded with the official player-of-the-match award.
‘My job is to find a better way’
“There’s no point in saying we (Wales) lack power,” said Sherratt. “My job is to find a better way. Maybe as a nation we need to have better ball movement.
“You can’t coach power but you can coach players to be faster.”
Sherratt would not comment on the current state of Welsh rugby but thanked his team’s fans for their “brilliant” support.
“The Wales U20s had a good win (over England on Friday),” he said. “There’s been some green shoots. I think we knew where we were before this campaign.”
Meanwhile, Sherratt revealed he had a conversation with Red Rose head coach Steve Borthwick after Saturday’s clash and took some heart from the fact that England were thumped 53-10 by France at Twickenham in 2023.
“I just spoke to (England coach) Steve Borthwick on the pitch,” he revealed. “In his first Six Nations, they lost to France by 50 points. He felt they needed it.”
