As Wales prepare to face France in the Six Nations on Sunday following their third biggest defeat to England last weekend, Steve Tandy’s right-hand man has repeated the claim that anxiety over which regions have a future is not undermining performances.
Tandy’s time in charge has been marked by continuing confusion over how many regions - and which - will be in operation after next season, with players at the Ospreys and Cardiff seemingly the most threatened.
It has coincided with four heavy defeats in five matches, in which Wales have conceded an average of just under seven tries per game.
With eight Ospreys players and seven from Cardiff in the current squad, Sherratt repeated the previous stance of Tandy that players have been unaffected, although he admitted he cannot know what is on their minds.
Asked if he felt the decision by the WRU to stick with four professional teams, then state there would be only two, and then re-define that verdict to three teams, was influencing events on the field, Sherratt said: “The straight answer to that is, no I don’t think it is.
“Genuinely, when you're in camp you are in a little bit of a bubble so the outside noise doesn't really get into camp from a coaching staff's point of view.
“I think if you ask the players they will say exactly the same. Listen, obviously, if there's something deep in the back of someone’s mind, I don't know.
“But, genuinely - and not to use the word excuse - but I don't think that had anything to do with the result at the weekend.
“It was factually what I've talked about - the discipline in the first three phases. I don't think the off-field stuff has it has had an effect, from what I can tell. But as I have said, I'm not a mind reader.”
Pressed on whether outside-half Dan Edwards of the Ospreys - who announced in a video he had re-sgned for the Ospreys just two weeks before Swansea Council revealed the WRU’s plans for the region to drop down to the Super Rygbi Cymru - was affected, Sherratt repeated the coaches’ collective stance.
“As I have said, when you're in camp, you are in a bubble. For me, his concentration is on playing for Wales, but I couldn't tell you what goes on in his mind.”
Sherratt has admitted Wales fell well short of required standards in their 48-7 defeat to England.
Tandy’s team now head into Sunday’s clash with France in Cardiff having lost 12 successive matches in the Championship and 22 of their 24 Tests since the 2023 World Cup.
Seven England tries, four Welsh yellow cards and 16 penalties conceded told the story of another afternoon where discipline and execution unravelled.
Asked directly whether the display at Twickenham met expectations, Sherratt did not attempt to soften the verdict.
"No, it wasn't.
"It doesn't sting anyone more than the players and staff, it's so disappointing. With the big picture, we want to make the nation proud of the Welsh rugby team.
"There wasn't a lack of effort, but at the top end of sport, you need more than effort."
Tuesday’s scheduled review session laid bare the issues but avoided descending into a blame game.
"The review was honest," said Sherratt.
"It wasn't brutal, but it was honest. We had two days afterwards, which helped, because sometimes it is a bit of a grieving process.
"By the time we came back in on Tuesday, there had been a lot of conversations and the players understand as well.
"It's not about the coaches standing at the front telling the players where it went wrong.
"It's pretty joined up, we've got senior players who were hurting as much as anyone."
For Sherratt, the most galling aspect was not solely the margin of defeat but the disconnect between preparation and performance. Wales had spent a fortnight building towards the opener, only to see their work fail to translate under pressure.
"We felt we'd worked hard for two weeks, but with every sport, it's about producing what you've done in practice on the day and we weren't able to do that," said Sherratt.
"Regardless of the scoreboard that was the most disappointing thing. We didn't feel like we replicated what we'd done in training."
The statistics under Tandy’s leadership underline the scale of the challenge. In five games in charge, Wales have leaked 248 points and 34 tries, all without a dedicated defence coach in place.
Tandy continues to juggle head coach responsibilities alongside overseeing the defensive structure — a role in which he previously excelled with Scotland and the British and Irish Lions.
Despite mounting scrutiny, Sherratt dismissed suggestions of structural confusion.
"Steve's the defence coach, he is British Lions defence coach," said Sherratt. He is a very good defence coach and it's not one thing [causing the problems]."
