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Matt Sherratt: 'I am not naive. I knew there would be an emotional response'
By PA
Matt Sherratt said he was “keen to let them go again” after naming an unchanged Wales team for Saturday’s Guinness Six Nations clash against Scotland at Murrayfield.
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Wales’ interim head coach has predictably retained the starting line-up that gave title favourites Ireland a major scare in Cardiff 12 days ago.
It is the first time since 2019 and World Cup games against Georgia and Australia in Japan – a gap of 66 Test matches to this weekend – that Wales have fielded the same XV.
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“Firstly, I thought the performance (against Ireland) was decent. I thought it was as cohesive as we could ask for with the amount of preparation time we had,” Sherratt said.
“It’s a reward for that really. Probably across the board there were some really good performances. I was keen to let them go again.
“This week has been a step-up in terms of what we have produced on the training field.
“The challenge the group set themselves on Monday was that they are pleased with the performance, but not the result, because they are all competitors.
“Can we do the same again and build a little bit more on top of that? The passion and effort was first rate. It is matching that as a minimum, but trying to build our game slowly.”
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The Edinburgh encounter is set to be Sherratt’s penultimate match in charge of Wales before he resumes duties as Cardiff head coach after taking over from Warren Gatland on a temporary basis.
Wales have lost their last 15 Tests, but the quality of performance in going down 27-18 to Ireland offered a brighter outlook ahead of remaining Six Nations appointments with Scotland and England.
And their recent Murrayfield record against Scotland is impressive, having won on six of the last eight visits to Edinburgh.
Sherratt added: “I am not naive. I knew there would be an emotional response for Ireland.
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“We’ve got England at home next week, last one in the Six Nations. That one looks after itself.
“This week for me was always going to be the one that was the test of the squad. We are going away and it is two weeks after the Ireland game.
“But what I sense from the players pretty early on is there is a determination to lift that emotion from the Principality Stadium and take it to Murrayfield.
Six Nations
P
W
L
D
PF
PA
PD
BP T
BP-7
BP
Total
1
Ireland
3
3
0
0
14
2
France
3
2
1
0
11
3
England
3
2
1
0
10
4
Scotland
3
1
2
0
6
5
Italy
3
1
2
0
4
6
Wales
3
0
3
0
1
“Obviously we won’t have the familiarity of home and the support, but we’ve talked about celebrating little wins and making our own atmosphere.
“Like most coaches, we’ve got a 90/10 principle. Ninety per cent of the week is about us, 10 per cent maybe slight adaptations depending on what the opposition will bring.
“In terms of the space we are in at the minute, we’re probably skewing that to 95 per cent about getting our game on the field, then a couple of tweaks on what they (Scotland) will bring.
“I know a lot is made of who is the underdog and who is the favourite. I think it is a level playing field. We go up there to win a game of rugby, take a lot of the good things from last time and try to grow our game by five or 10 per cent.”
Two switches among the replacements see returns for former captain Dewi Lake, who was recently recalled to the squad after recovering from biceps surgery, and Cardiff prop Keiron Assiratti.
Lake, Wales skipper in Australia last summer and throughout this season’s Autumn Nations Series, takes over from Evan Lloyd and will provide hooking cover for Elliot Dee, with Assiratti chosen instead of Henry Thomas.
This guy has a cool sensible head and communicates very clearly. An excellent coach clearly.