In our co-founder Alex Cuthbert’s latest column in the Sportin Wales magazine, he gives readers some insight into the new Wales interim head coach, Matt Sherratt.

What a month February has been!

At the time of writing, Warren Gatland has left his role as Wales head coach for the second time, and my old coach at Cardiff, Matt Sherratt, has been appointed as interim.

It was sad to see Warren go, in all honesty.

Personally, I had some amazing times with Warren. Winning the Grand Slam in 2012 was such an amazing experience so early in my career and he really helped me get to the highest level.

Playing in Welsh and Lions jerseys for him was a privilege and one that I will forever be grateful to Gats for.

His first spell in charge will go down as one of the best periods in Welsh rugby history. Winning three Grand Slams, plus another title in 2013, we were the team no one in world rugby wanted to play.

Unfortunately, since he came back in 2023, Wales have more often than not looked like the team everyone wants to play.

The 2023 World Cup was a success, considering where we were heading into that tournament. Seeing my fellow co-founder and good friend Gareth Anscombe run the show against Australia was awesome after all the injury issues he has overcome.

I think that at that point, after the quarterfinal defeat to Argentina, would have been the right time for Gats to step down.

His commitment to Welsh rugby was obvious though and he clearly thought he could bring through a new generation of talent and take them to 2027.

Sadly, it was not to be. Wales’s form in 2024 and at the start of this year’s Six Nations was only getting worse and something did need to be done.

It is mark of how much Warren respects Welsh rugby that it was a mutual decision to leave, and an option that he himself brought up to Abi Tierney after the Italy game.

Looking forward, Matt Sherratt was exactly the right choice to be interim coach.

Jockey has been a part of Welsh rugby for almost ten years now and he coached a number of the Wales squad.

Matt is a top bloke and an even better coach. His detail is second to none and he is always looking at getting the best out of every player on the field.

He loves ball movement from forwards and will look to get the main ball carriers in the game as much as possible.

We have seen in the early rounds of the Six Nations that Wales have really struggled to get over the gain line, so I expect the focus will be on getting that right and going from there.

It is easy to forget amidst all the doom and gloom, but this Wales squad has some really talented young players, particularly in the backs.

If Matt can provide a platform for the likes of Tom Rogers, Max Lewellyn, Ben Thomas, Ellie Mee, and Eddie James to play from, then Wales will have a positive end to the tournament.

Bringing back Gareth and Max was the correct call, and they will help raise the level of the team immediately. Jarrod Evans is on great form at Harlequins right now, so potentially getting to see him take that step up to international level is exciting too.

Beyond the tournament, it would be great for Welsh rugby if Matt got the job permanently.

Tierney has let Matt bring in the players he wants, as well as letting Rob Howley go and bringing in Thomas Rhys Thomas as a skills coach.

To me, this signals that they are pre-planning for when Jockey potentially gets the job fulltime after the Six Nations.

They could go and try to get his old mate Danny Wilson at Quins as forwards coach and Gethin Jenkins at Cardiff to run the defence. Add in Adam Jones who has worked wonders on the scrum already, and that looks like a good group to take Wales forward.

Whoever gets the job, Wales needed someone with new ideas to come in a lift the mood in camp. Let’s hope that translates onto the pitch.

 

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