Matt Sherratt, Wales’ new interim head coach for the remainder of the 2025 Six Nations, took his son to three different sporting occasions last year.
As a pair, they went to watch Premier League giants Liverpool, a cricket match in the Hundred, and a rugby game – which was not a Wales international.
It was the last of those which appealed least.
‘I took him to a rugby game and he asked if we could leave at 55 minutes,’ Sherratt said this week. ‘It was a kick-fest. I thought, “How sad is it that there is a 12-year-old who loves sport and wants to leave the rugby game?”’
It is not that experience alone that influenced how Sherratt wants to go about his business in professional rugby, but it certainly had an impact.
‘I’m probably at the stage of my career where it’s important to me that people come and enjoy watching a team play,’ he said. ‘Not at the expense of winning because that’s really important, but I want players to go out and be brave.
Matt Sherratt has been appointed on an interim basis until the end of the Six Nations
Sherratt rushed down so quickly for his unveiling that he was still wearing Cardiff training gear
‘I do believe we have a duty to ensure people enjoy watching rugby. That is what I genuinely believe. It’s what I am passionate about. I’m pretty set on how to play.’
Sherratt is determined to stick to his principles after being parachuted in to replace Warren Gatland as the man in charge in Wales, if only for a short period of time.
Gatland departed his role on Tuesday by what Welsh Rugby Union chief executive Abi Tierney said was mutual agreement, after presiding over a record low for a proud rugby nation of 14 straight Test defeats.
Gatland’s position had become untenable. But such is the madness of Welsh rugby that just 90 minutes after Gatland’s departure had been confirmed, Sherratt found himself at an impromptu press conference alongside Tierney to confirm his new role.
Tierney has tasked Sherratt with bringing back ‘hope’. He will be in charge for the games with Ireland, Scotland and England before returning to his day job with Cardiff – the team whose training gear he was wearing at his Wales unveiling and with whom he will coach against Connacht on Saturday before joining the Welsh setup properly.
It is some task for Sherratt, who has a Welsh mother and English father and does not yet know the Welsh national anthem, to take on.
But his attacking brand of rugby will be a welcome refresh to what Wales have produced under Gatland in the last 18 months. Sherratt, 48, is also a popular coach, whose person-first approach has seen him win admirers wherever he’s gone.
Sherratt has progressed first from teaching and a development role with England’s RFU via Worcester, Bristol, Ospreys and Cardiff to the Wales job. He only became a head coach for the first time at Cardiff just under two years ago.
Sherratt, seen here with Alun Wyn Jones, was a Wales assistant coach in 2017
He is a popular coach, whose approach has seen him win admirers wherever he’s gone
‘I’ve been in sport long enough to know it’s pretty bumpy,’ he said. ‘You’re never going to be offered an opportunity when things are going well. It’s not something I expected to happen. It was a surprise.
‘My background is as a teacher and in community coaching. So, to have the opportunity to be senior coach of a fantastic rugby nation and a group of players and staff I know pretty well is something I couldn’t turn down.’
Sherratt won’t be the country’s long-term successor to Gatland, unless something remarkable happens over the next five weeks. He previously worked as a Wales assistant in short-term roles in 2016 and 2017 and his work was well received by the players.
On Tuesday, having rushed from a club training session, Sherratt revealed his commitment to Wales’ capital side with whom he’s signed a new deal.
Even though he will have minimal time with Wales before facing Ireland, he will aim to bring back a feel-good factor to the team off the field and a more attacking approach on it.
‘Cardiff were on a bit of a low when I came in and I said to Abi I think the first thing to start with is mindset,’ said Sherratt, who is universally known as ‘Jockey’ in Welsh rugby circles because his small stature resembles that of a race rider.
‘I’ve coached international rugby before. It’s going to be very difficult to change a huge amount technically and tactically in what will probably three or four sessions before we play Ireland.
‘I think if we can get a mindset shift and have real excitement in playing international rugby for Wales, it doesn’t matter what technical and tactical stuff you put on the pitch.’
Sherratt will lead his club side Cardiff in their match against Connacht on Saturday before joining up with Wales to lead the build-up for the visit of Ireland a week later
Sherratt’s first decision ahead of the Ireland game will be to decide on the status of the assistant coaches who worked under Gatland
Sherratt’s first decisions ahead of the visit of Ireland on Saturday week will be to decide on the status of the assistant coaches who worked under Gatland. It is likely that given Sherratt’s attacking knowledge, Rob Howley will depart with the other incumbent staff remaining.
Sherratt could also make changes to Wales’ playing squad. For example, Gatland played Cardiff’s Ben Thomas at fly-half in the defeats by France and Italy, but Sherratt has always seen him as a No 12 when working with him at his club.
Sherratt could also call up new players currently not in Wales’ Championship party such as Gareth Anscombe, Max Llewellyn, Jarrod Evans and Dewi Lake.
When asked if he knew the words to the Welsh national anthem Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau, Sherratt replied: ‘l’ll be on YouTube tomorrow. I’ve had two meetings with Cardiff today, run a session, and literally sprinted off the pitch as fast as I could – which isn’t very fast – and drove here.
Wales were outplayed by Italy in Rome last weekend to make it 14 Test defeats in a row
Wales scored two late tries to make the final score 22-15, but that flattered them
Warren Gatland left his job as head coach by mutual consent three days after the Italy defeat
‘A lot more people are interested in me than there were yesterday! It’s my first year as head coach but I’ve been in the game 20 years.
‘When I meet the squad on Monday morning, they’ll want to beat Ireland. If I go in there and talk about trying our best and playing some nice rugby, you’ve lost the room immediately. We go out there to win every game, same as we do at Cardiff.’
Win even one of Wales’ next three games and Sherratt will be proclaimed a hero given the team’s awful run under Gatland.
Doing so looks unlikely, but he is the right man for an emergency situation and don’t bet against him causing a surprise in the coming weeks.
