Matt Sherratt has clarified Cardiff’s plans for the coming weeks where he will lead Wales in the Guinness Six Nations.
The Cardiff head coach was today announced as Wales’ new head coach, on an interim basis, following the departure of Warren Gatland.
Sherratt will juggle Cardiff and Wales duties this week, and will lead the Blue & Blacks in their BKT United Rugby Championship clash with Connacht on Saturday. He will then link up with the national team on a full time basis, for the remainder of the championship, from Monday.
He said: “It’s a massive ambition of any coach, any rugby player, to represent the national team. Obviously I got the news last night, so it’s been a bit of a whirlwind.
“I’m absolutely delighted. I’m obviously very grateful to the Welsh Rugby Union for the opportunity and also Cardiff for supporting this.
“At this time of the season there’s very few club games. We’ve done all our prep for Connacht this this week, we’ve got another training day Thursday, and then I’ll be at the Connacht game on on Saturday,
“So it will just be the Leinster game that I’ll be missing but in all honesty, the way we run the program at Cardiff, we’ve got experienced coaches who are more than capable of running the week.
“Gethin Jenkins and Corneil van Zyl, are very experienced coaches. They’ll be holding the fort.
“We try and share duties, like press, pre match messages and things like that so I’d like to think we’ve got a program where, if one of us is missing, whether that be me or a skills coach, that the program keeps keeps working.”
The club had been finalising plans to announce Sherratt’s new long-term contract prior to this development and he has reiterated his commitment to Cardiff. He also revealed that new deals for his backroom staff are also being finalised.
“Firstly, I’m delighted to commit to Cardiff. This genuinely is a club that I’ve got a real affinity to. I love going to work every day. The players and the staff are great, it’s a great group, and I think our fans are unbelievable as well – just look at the attendances we’ve had last season and this season.
“To sign a longer term deal, and as importantly, or more importantly in a lot of ways, is the rest of the coaching staff signing deals as well.
“I see us as a coaching team. For myself and the other coaches to try and stay together and try to build to make Cardiff is so pleasing.”
Sherratt also believes the experience will be beneficial to both his own personal development and Cardiff in the long run.
He added: “It’s the same as player…in terms of the the pressure. As an example, an Evan Lloyd or a Cam Winnett, coming into into Welsh camp and playing at the highest intensity, under the most pressure, hopefully when they come back to the club game, they feel up that little bit more confident.
“So I’m hoping there’s some learning for me there as well. Obviously, working with the best players, coaching against the best teams, coaching with some of the best coaches, it can only be good for my long term development, and in turn, that’s good for Cardiff.”