Rugby Union
Wales Appoint Cardiff Blues Boss Matt Sherratt As Interim Head Coach Following Warren Gatland Departure
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Cardiff Blues head coach Matt Sherratt has been named as interim Wales boss after the WRU parted ways with former coach Warren Gatland.
The Welsh Union decided the time had come to end 22-15 in Rome by Italy.
Defeat at the weekend means it’s now 14 straight test match losses for Wales, the worst run in their entire 144-year international history.
Furthermore, Wales have now slipped to 12th in the World Rugby Rankings – their lowest ever position.
They are now ranked below Georgia, who were the last team they beat back in November 2023 at the World Cup.
Saturday’s loss to Italy in the Six Nations followed a 43-0 thumping in Paris against on the opening weekend.
Things don’t get any easier for the Welsh. Next up after the fallow week is a huge game against Ireland at home.
Then, they travel up to Edinburgh to play Scotland before rounding out the campaign against England in Cardiff.
New temporary boss Matt Sherratt has a mammoth task to prepare his side to face the Irish in less than two weeks, but who exactly is he?
Who Is New Interim Wales Coach Matt Sherratt?
It may come as a shock to many to learn that the man in charge of Wales is actually English.
Matt Sherratt has been head coach of Cardiff Blues since 2023, but has years of top-level coaching experience.
He started working as a development coach with England in 2005. Since then, he has spent time with Worcester Warriors as academy coach, before stints at Bristol and the Ospreys.
His first head coach role was also on an interim basis, taking over at the Ospreys from Allen Clarke in 2019.
Sherratt has helped lift Cardiff to fifth in this season’s URC, the highest of any Welsh region.
With Wales planning to appoint a permanent successor to Gatland ahead of their summer tour to Japan, Sherratt has signed a new long-term deal with Cardiff and will return there after the Six Nations.