Matt Sherratt to resume Wales interim head coach role for Japan tour in July

Matt Sherratt will resume interim head coach duty for Wales’ two-Test Japan tour in July.

Cardiff boss Sherratt took charge for Wales’ final three Six Nations games this season after Warren Gatland left following defeat against Italy in Rome.

Wales ended their Six Nations campaign with a record 68-14 home loss to England and have suffered 17-successive Test defeats that started with a 2023 World Cup quarter-final reversal against Argentina.

Sherratt, though, will have a new team of assistant coaches alongside him for appointments with Japan in Kitakyushu on July 5 and Kobe seven days later.

Jonathan Humphreys and Mike Forshaw, who were part of Gatland’s coaching staff throughout his second spell in charge, will not be involved this summer.

Harlequins head coach Danny Wilson and the Premiership club’s scrum specialist Adam Jones will join Sherratt on the tour, in addition to Gloucester’s TR Thomas and former Wales prop Gethin Jenkins.

Jones and Thomas worked alongside Sherratt during the Six Nations and – together with interim forwards coach Wilson – are on secondment from their Premiership clubs. Defence coach Jenkins, meanwhile, is on secondment from Cardiff.

Welsh Rugby Union chief executive Abi Tierney said: “We are very grateful to Matt for agreeing to pick up the reins again with the Wales senior men’s side on an interim basis for the Japan tour.

“The impact and positive difference he made to the squad in a very short period of time during the Six Nations was welcomed.

“It was a tough campaign, but we know we are in safe hands while we complete the final stages of our recruitment process for a new permanent head coach.”

Sherratt added: “I am delighted to have the opportunity to return and coach Wales again this summer. It is an exciting prospect to go to Japan for two matches in July.

“We are all looking forward to getting into camp and starting preparations for our summer campaign.”

Sherratt has named a 33-strong squad for the Japan tour, with Ospreys hooker Dewi Lake chosen as captain.

There are six uncapped players in Keelan Giles, Macs Page, Reuben Morgan-Williams, Liam Belcher, Chris Coleman and Garyn Phillips.

Fly-half Sam Costelow, prop Archie Griffin and lock Bem Carter all return after missing the Six Nations through injury.

But Exeter captain Dafydd Jenkins will undergo surgery and misses out, along with Scarlets prop Henry Thomas, who the WRU say will seek specialist opinion on a long-term condition, while locks Adam Beard and Will Rowlands are rested.

Notable absentees from the squad includes Gloucester backs Gareth Anscombe, Max Llewellyn and Josh Hathaway, Saracens centre Nick Tompkins, Scarlets wing Ellis Mee and Cardiff flanker James Botham.

Squad: Backs – J Adams (Cardiff), S Costelow (Scarlets), D Edwards (Ospreys), K Giles (Ospreys), K Hardy (Ospreys), R Morgan-Williams (Ospreys), B Murray (Scarlets), M Page (Scarlets), J Roberts (Scarlets), T Rogers (Scarlets), B Thomas (Cardiff), J Williams (Scarlets), R Williams (Dragons), C Winnett (Cardiff).

Forwards – K Assiratti (Cardiff), L Belcher (Cardiff), B Carter (Dragons), C Coleman (Dragons), E Dee (Dragons), T Faletau (Cardiff), A Griffin (Bath), D Lake (Ospreys, capt), J MacLeod (Scarlets), A Mann (Cardiff), G Phillips (Ospreys), T Plumtree (Scarlets), J Ratti (Ospreys), T Reffell (Leicester), N Smith (Leicester), G Thomas (Ospreys), F Thomas (Gloucester), A Wainwright (Dragons), T Williams (Cardiff).