Wales must not be chewed up by losing run

Jac Morgan has been one of Wales leading lights in a winless Six Nations campaign

Mens Six Nations: Wales v England

Venue: Principality Stadium, Cardiff Date: Saturday, 15 March Kick-off: 16:45 GMT

Coverage: Watch on BBC One, BBC Sport website and app and S4C. Text commentary and highlights on BBC Sport website and app. Listen live on BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru, BBC Radio 5 & BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra.

Interim head coach Matt Sherratt says Wales can not fixate on breaking their record 16-game losing sequence after a 35-29 Six Nations defeat by Scotland.

The loss in Edinburgh was also a 10th consecutive Six Nations failure during a winless run that began in October 2023.

Wales launched a spirited Murrayfield comeback to claim two losing bonus points after Scotland had taken their foot of the pedal when leading 35-8 after an hour.

The stark reality now is Wales have now joined Italy as another tier-one team to have lost 16 successive internationals in the professional era.

England visit Cardiff next Saturday with Wales bidding to avoid losing all their matches for a second Six Nations tournament in a row.

"Theres no point hanging on to the past at all," said Sherratt.

"It [the losing run] is not something Im going to talk about, its there in the background.

"Everyone knows that, but if you start taking the pitch with desperation and anxiety and worrying where the next win comes from, its just going to chew you up.

"What I can promise the players next week is Ill do my best to make them a better team. So Ill be positive and well have a plan for England."

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Wales defended like it was a one-point game - Sherratt

Wales had run Ireland close in Sherratts first game in charge, but could not replicate that intensity in the opening exchanges against Scotland.

Gregor Townsends side ran in four tries before the break to lead by 20 points as they outclassed Wales.

"We knew two things were going to be important," said Sherratt.

"They edged the contestable kicking game and their defence at the contact area was so good.

"Thats what happened in the first 40 minutes as we gave their back three some run ups and they are dangerous."

Sherratt has insisted it was those technical problems rather than any emotional issues.

"The easy thing is to say there was a drop off emotionally, but I dont think that was the case," said Sherratt.

"They are a good Scotland team and weve got to remember that. Theyve been together a long time and we ran into them on a good day.

"There was no lack of passion out there. There was a hell of a lot of effort from our boys in that last 20 minutes.

"It was nice to get that four-try bonus point, but what was more pleasing was seeing the desperation of them defending our line.

"The amount of tackles some of our forwards put into those sets was outstanding."

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Scotland survive late Wales comeback to win

Wales, who had scored in the first half through full-back Blair Murray, made the scoreline far more respectable with tries from Ben Thomas, Teddy Williams and Max Llewellyn as replacement fly-half Jarrod Evans helped orchestrate the second-half comeback.

Wales also had a late Taulupe Faletau try disallowed for Murray illegally hurdling a tackle in the build-up, a decision Sherratt described as "correct".

"The game had run its course so when the bench came on it was pretty clear what we had to do," said Sherratt.

"Ultimately the first 20 minutes was always going to dictate where the game went.

"It was a brave effort to come back and get two points, but Ive seen enough of those games where the reality is they probably thought theyd done enough and dropped off 5%.

"The most pleasing thing was you could sense just before half-time, if we started chasing the game and getting unstructured, wed hurt ourselves.

"There was an element of maturity in the second half where we werent reckless.

"It gave us something to build on and some green shoots going into the England game."

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Russell frustrated as sleepy Scotland took their foot off the gas

After they host Italy on Sunday, England will travel to Principality Stadium next Saturday for Sherratts final game in charge before he returns to Cardiff.

Gloucester-born Sherratt is looking forward to plotting the downfall of his fellow countrymen, who could still be in contention for the Six Nations title when they take the field in the Welsh capital.

"I cant wait," said Sherratt.

"Straight away after the game, the players said in the huddle that its not a week to lick your wounds for too long.

"Theres no greater challenge than England in Cardiff. I know its something the boys cant wait for and personally for me, it should be a great occasion."

Sherratt also stated he was unsure whether Josh Adams would be fit to face England after the Cardiff wing missed the past two games because of a hamstring injury.