Wales performance against England ‘not acceptable’

Wales assistant coach Matt Sherratt says the squad know the performance in the 48-7 Six Nations opening defeat by England was not acceptable.

Steve Tandy’s side face France in Cardiff on Sunday on the back of a losing run of 12 matches in the tournament and 22 losses in 24 internationals since the 2023 World Cup.

Wales yielded seven tries at Allianz Stadium in Twickenham and had four players given yellow cards as they conceded 16 penalties in another ill-disciplined display.

Wales captain Dewi Lake stated after the game the squad had let people down, while wing Josh Adams was close to tears.

When asked whether the performance against England was acceptable, Sherratt replied: “No, it wasn’t.

“It doesn’t sting anyone more than the players and staff, it’s so disappointing. With the big picture, we want to make the nation proud of the Welsh rugby team.

Sherratt says the usual post-match review on Tuesday highlighted the nature of the defeat.

“The review was honest,” said Sherratt.

“It wasn’t brutal, but it was honest. We had two days afterwards, which helped, because sometimes it is a bit of a grieving process.

“By the time we came back in on Tuesday, there had been a lot of conversations and the players understand as well.

“It’s not about the coaches standing at the front telling the players where it went wrong.

“It’s pretty joined up, we’ve got senior players who were hurting as much as anyone.”

Sherratt says the players were unable to put together what had been prepared in training.

“We felt we’d worked hard for two weeks, but with every sport, it’s about producing what you’ve done in practice on the day and we weren’t able to do that,” said Sherratt.

“Regardless of the scoreboard that was the most disappointing thing. We didn’t feel like we replicated what we’d done in training.”

Sherratt says Wales will try to remain on course with the same approach despite the wretched recent results.

“It’s a balance, it’s like with any job,” said Sherratt.

“If you start changing course every two or three weeks, you lose confidence in what you’re trying to do also.

“We’ve been clear from the start. We’ve got a group of players we want to play in a certain way.

“It’s been inconsistent. We’ve seen shoots of it against Argentina and New Zealand and then not in the other games.

“So it’s about trying to get more of what we’re trying to do on the field, not changing.

“We’re not stubborn, so we will look at what’s the best chance for the team to get a result at the weekend.

Wales have conceded 248 points and 34 tries in Tandy’s five games in charge so far with no specialist defence coach in place.

Tandy combines the head coach job with the defence position, the specialist role that he had successfully held with Scotland and the British and Irish Lions.

Sherratt says that arrangement will continue.

“Steve’s the defence coach, he is British Lions defence coach,” said Sherratt. He is a very good defence coach and it’s not one thing [causing the problems].”

Sherratt will come up against France defence coach and former Wales coaching favourite Shaun Edwards this weekend.

“I know Shaun well, I worked with him with Wales, Cardiff and the Ospreys,” said Sherratt.

“They’re good defensively and Shaun is a world-class defence coach.