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The wholesale Wales changes Matt Sherratt is poised to make
By PA
Matt Sherratt looks set to rip up the Wales team beaten by Italy and make wholesale changes for Saturday’s Guinness Six Nations clash against Ireland. Wales’ interim head coach, who is at the helm for three games only as immediate successor to Warren Gatland, could hand Nottingham-born Scarlets back Ellis Mee his Test debut.
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Gloucester backs Max Llewellyn and Gareth Anscombe, recalled by Sherratt after Gatland left them out of his Six Nations squad, are widely expected to start.
It is understood that other players firmly in the mix to feature include Leicester forwards Nicky Smith and Tommy Reffell, with captain Jac Morgan lining up at blindside flanker.
Wales are 25-1 with some bookmakers to beat title favourites Ireland and halt a run of 14 successive Test reversals since defeating 2023 Rugby World Cup pool opponents Georgia.
A further loss would create a new Welsh record of nine Five or Six Nations defeats on the bounce and leave them hurtling towards another wooden spoon, with Scotland and England awaiting in March.
Mee, whose mother is from Newport, has only played 10 competitive games for the Scarlets since joining them from English Championship club Nottingham last summer.
But the 21-year-old made a sufficient impression on Gatland to gain a Six Nations squad place as one of only two newcomers alongside Ospreys fly-half Dan Edwards.
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Cardiff boss Sherratt, who will only have four training sessions to prepare his players for Ireland’s Cardiff visit, has put an emphasis on enjoyment during discussions with the squad.
Wales back row forward Aaron Wainwright said: “It’s a long journey to get there (international squad), so for us to be able to enjoy how hard we have worked and how far we’ve come to get here, that is going to be massive for us this week.
“Hopefully, that shows on the pitch and the fans can get behind us and they can see that we are enjoying it, and hopefully the performance comes together along with that. They [Ireland] are one of the best teams in the world, incredibly well drilled all the way across the park.
“So for us, we have got to be right on our game and yes, I just keep coming back to that word, but ‘enjoyment’. They are incredibly detailed. Hopefully, we can try and nullify that and take away their detail as much as we can by being nuisances.”
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Wales have lost seven of their last eight games against Ireland, and few expect them to seriously trouble Simon Easterby’s team at the Principality Stadium. They are 10 places above Wales in the world rankings, and appear well on course for a Grand Slam and record third successive Six Nations title.
“A lot of people I speak to understand this is a low point, but they are excited about the chance for us to try to get back to where we were two or three years ago,” Wainwright said. “I highlight 2019 as being my best year in a Welsh shirt, when we won the Six Nations and then reached the World Cup semi-finals.
“We want to get back to where we were then as soon as possible. I love speaking to people about it and seeing what they think, and if they have any views of what they would change. I can have conversations like that.”
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