Matt Sherratt will take charge of his first Wales game on Saturday afternoon (Image: Getty)
New interim boss Matt Sherratt has a ‘stealing numbers’ tactic that he hopes will give his side the edge against .
Sherratt has been ushered in as Wales coach following Warren Gatland’s resignation after their defeat to Italy earlier this month.
The Cardiff coach has initially taken charge on an interim basis, as the Welsh Rugby Union conduct a search for Gatland’s permanent replacement.
But things don’t get much harder for Sherratt on debut, given Grand Slam-chasing Ireland are the visitors to Cardiff.
Sherratt has a trick up his sleeve though. He’s going to ‘steal Ireland’s numbers’.
Welsh rugby ace Dan Biggar explained the tactic in his column ahead of the game. He said: “Jockey [Sherratt’s nickname] talks a lot as a coach about what he calls ‘stealing numbers’ in everything his teams do.
“What that means is outworking your opposition to create an extra man and therefore more space in which to attack.
“One way Jockey will look to do that is for his forwards to clear rucks effectively to minimise the numbers Ireland will have in the defensive line.”
Wales meet Ireland in the Six Nations on Saturday (Image: Getty)
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Sherratt, to give him his proper name, has urged his much-changed Wales side not to “die wondering” against the Championship favourites.
Speaking ahead of Saturday’s clash, he said: “I want the players to be brave. If they see space, I don’t want us to die wondering.
“If there is an error, there is an error. I can coach that in the week. It is having a system that we stick to.
“I’ve been in the game long enough now, I am not going to just say go out and have a crack, as that gets messy. We have worked really hard in the week on how we find and keep shape.”
He continued: “There will be 15 players on the field that are desperate to represent their country. That is all we are focused on, not any chat from outside of camp.
“It is a game of rugby ultimately – a game of rugby with 80,000 people watching it, and a lot more interest – but when you boil it down it is still just the same as a club game.
“It will be faster, there is more pressure, the collisions will be bigger, but that word ‘opportunity’ is the one we used when we were speaking to the players. We don’t want them to get bogged down with everything around the game.”
Wales’ clash with Ireland gets underway at 2:15pm on Saturday afternoon.