Wales head coach Matt Sherratt will lead his team into Saturday’s second Test against Japan determined to end a torrid run of 18 consecutive defeats. Last weekend’s 24-19 loss in Kitakyushu, where Wales led 19-7 with 20 minutes to go, was a bitter blow — and Sherratt admitted the squad were given space to “grieve” before refocusing.
00:00Wales head coach Matt Sherratt will lead his team into Saturday's second test against Japan,
00:08determined to end a torrid run of 18 consecutive defeats.
00:12Last weekend's loss in Katakushi, where Wales led with 20 minutes to go, was a bitter blow,
00:17and Sherratt admitted the squad were given space to grieve before he focusing.
00:23The coach credited British and Irish Lions boss Andy Farrell for the approach.
00:28He told me sometimes after emotional games, players just need time to grieve, and it made complete sense, Sherratt said.
00:36Then we went factual. The score was 19-7 to us at 60 minutes.
00:40We lack set-piece attention late on, and we need to fix that to win.
00:45The morale shift has been clear since last year.
00:48If you saw in training, you wouldn't know this group had lost or won 10 in a row, Sherratt added.
00:53They're a good bunch, and we've got them back in the right place.
00:56Ospreay's fly-half Dan Edwards makes his first start in one of the four changes.
01:02He replaces Sam Costolo, while Freddie Thomas comes in for the injured Ben Carter.
01:07Aaron Wainwright starts at number eight, and Archie Griffin gets the nod at prop over Kieran Aserati.
01:14Sherratt believes Edwards brings a much-needed X-factor.
01:19Adding inspiration, Wales football manager Craig Bellamy visited the squad before their tour.
01:24His message resonated, as scrum coach Adam Jones said.
01:28He told us if he was in a team that had lost that many games, he'd be excited to be the one to turn it around.
01:34That stuck with the group.
01:36The EWIU's turmoil over the past 18 months has been no secret, and the future of Welsh rugby is still seemingly uncertain.
01:43We need to re-establish faith and trust and confidence here for our partners, for our stakeholders, for our rugby family as a whole.
01:56Amid the disarray within the WIU, including structural reviews and ongoing questions about leadership,
02:02the national team remains under pressure, but Saturday's test in Kobe offers one final chance this season to end the losing streak and spark a long overdue reset.
