'I had Gethin Jenkins give me a slap... I could have easily embarrassed myself on TV'

Matt Sherratt hopes Wales’ 31-22 victory over Japan can “be the start of something” after they snapped an 18-match losing Test run.

A hard-fought performance saw Kieran Hardy score two tries along with efforts from Josh Adams and Dan Edwards as Wales held off a second-half Japan comeback to clinch the win at the Noevir Stadium.

It earned Wales their first Test win since beating Georgia at the 2023 World Cup.

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Sherratt took over as interim head coach following the departure of Warren Gatland during the Six Nations Championship in February and he hopes Saturday’s win can help his successor start with a clean slate.

“A very passionate group of players and staff. There’s some real talent as well,” Sherratt told a post-match press conference.

Fixture

Internationals

Japan

22 - 31

Full-time

Wales

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“Today is the end of a long season, but for Welsh rugby it’s got to be the start of something.

“The next guy coming in – the big motivation for the group was to let whoever that is start on a level playing field without the burden of the 18 in a row around his neck.

“That was a big motivation for me coming in. The work’s got to be done now with the national coaches in the regions, lets get into the regions and help develop a good young group of players.”

Sherratt had overseen four of those 18 defeats coming into Saturday’s contest and expressed his delight for Wales’ players and staff to finally earn a win as emotions ran high at full-time.

He added: “For me, it’s about the people. As I said before, I’ve genuinely never wanted to win a game of rugby so much.

“I’m not around it being win or loss. I’m more around I know what the group has put in – I’ve been around for four games, but I see what it means to them, what it means to the staff.

“I was so pleased for this group, there’s not been a more deserving group that I’ve worked with, so it was pretty emotional.

“I had to get Gethin Jenkins to give me a slap around the face to get in check because as you’d seen, I could have easily embarrassed myself on TV.”

Wales took a 21-10 lead into half-time thanks to efforts from Adams and Hardy, before Shuhei Takeuchi scored before the break.

Edwards’ penalty extended the visitors’ advantage, but they suddenly found themselves in trouble when converted tries from Warner Dearns and Dylan Riley closed the gap to two points.

However, Wales were able to see the game out after a brilliant piece of individual skill from Taine Plumtree saw him fire a reverse pass into Edwards and the fly-half dived over the line to wrap up the win.

Reflecting on the game, skipper Dewi Lake added: “I’m over the moon, it’s been a long time coming.

“I look back at tough results we’ve had over the last 18 months, couple of one-pointers, couple of two-pointers. We were probably in the driving seat last week and let it slip.

“To dig in and get the job done today is an amazing feeling.”