Wales boss admits painful truth after humiliating England rout
Steve Tandy’s side are now preparing to face France in Cardiff on Sunday.
They carry the heavy burden of a 12-match losing streak in the tournament.
The national team has also suffered 22 defeats in their last 24 internationals since the 2023 World Cup.
A discipline disaster
The visitors capitulated at the Allianz Stadium in Twickenham, yielding seven tries in a chaotic defensive display.
Ill-discipline plagued the Welsh ranks throughout the afternoon.
They conceded 16 penalties and saw four players sent to the sin-bin during the rout.
Captain Dewi Lake stated after the final whistle that the squad had let the nation down.
Winger Josh Adams appeared visibly distraught and was close to tears on the pitch.
When pressed on the nature of the loss, Sherratt offered no excuses.
“No, it wasn’t [acceptable],” he said.
“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.”
“There wasn’t a lack of effort, but at the top end of sport, you need more than effort.”
Honest conversations
Sherratt insisted that the subsequent analysis on Tuesday was conducted with transparency rather than brutality.
“The review was honest,” the assistant coach explained.
“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.”
He emphasised that the responsibility was shared collectively.
“It’s not about the coaches standing at the front telling the players where it went wrong,” he added.
“It’s pretty joined up, we’ve got senior players who were hurting as much as anyone.”
Training ground disconnect
The coaching staff acknowledged a worrying failure to translate training ground preparation into match-day execution.
“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,” Sherratt admitted.
“Regardless of the scoreboard that was the most disappointing thing.”
“We didn’t feel like we replicated what we’d done in training.”
Despite the wretched run of results, the management team intends to maintain their strategic direction.
“It’s a balance, it’s like with any job,” Sherratt said.
“If you start changing course every two or three weeks, you lose confidence in what you’re trying to do also.”
He pointed to fleeting moments of quality against Argentina and New Zealand as evidence of potential progress.
“We’re not stubborn, so we will look at what’s the best chance for the team to get a result at the weekend,” he concluded.
“But you can’t be scrapping your plans each week as well.”