By Graham Thomas
As Cardiff kick-off their new season on Friday night, head coach Matt Sherratt insists he will be calling the shots at the Arms Park – not Warren Gatland.
With a host of youngsters having been fast-tracked into the Wales squad over the past 12 months, it might be tempting to believe Sherratt is under pressure to accommodate all requests.
After all, one of Gatland’s strengths during his more successful times as national coach has been his ability to persuade regional coaches to act in the national interest – even when they might conflict with the player’s weekly paymasters.
This is a cracking Cardiff try.
The long pass from Cam Winnett is perfect, brilliant from Evan Lloyd to time the offload, Ben Thomas always on hand to link the play and doesn't panic before putting it on a plate for Mason Grady.
A Blue & Black attack on fire. pic.twitter.com/kYi1hE34Ys
— Cardiff Rugby Life (@CardiffRugbyWeb) June 5, 2024
Players have often been picked in positions Gatland was keener to play them in than the regional coach.
But even though Cardiff’s Ben Thomas – a late-blooming rising star of the Welsh game – has been used at outside-half by Gatland this summer against Australia, Sherratt insists Cardiff’s belief Thomas should be a centre will take priority.
Sherratt – whose team open their United Rugby Championship campaign against Zebre at the Arms Park on Friday night – says: “I have spoken to Warren about Benny.
“Rugby is an opinions game. As a coach, I have to get to the end of the day and the team has to look like I want it to look.
“My first commitment is to Cardiff. They’re my employer. As a coach, you want your kind of game to be on the pitch – otherwise there is no point in coaching.
“I’ve been pretty clear. I see Ben as a 12, he’s a playmaker.
“If you watched our game last weekend, he’s at first receiver a lot, he makes a lot of decisions, he makes a lot of passes. It’s not actually a huge move to go to 10. I’ve spoken to Warren around that, they know that.
“There is probably more around some of the kicking stuff, which Ben hasn’t actually been able to do yet anyway because of his quad injury.
So, he’s been load-managed around that. But it’s common sense.”
Y Tîm | The Team 🆚 @ZebreParma
©️ Liam Belcher
8⃣ Competitive debutants
🆕 Half-back pairing #AlwaysCardiff 🔵⚫️ pic.twitter.com/EVvLNNYOxO— Cardiff Rugby (@Cardiff_Rugby) September 19, 2024
Sherratt insists he wants Wales to do well this season and for Gatland to turn around his wretched current sequence of nine successive Test losses.
The Cardiff chief has also revealed Gatland and his coaching team have been active in getting around the regions and providing input.
“The coaches have been in. Listen, it’s early but so far this season, we’ve seen every coach. Gats has come in.
“I will say that whenever I’ve had anything to do with Warren, he’s been more than helpful. He gave me some really good advice in my first year as a head coach last year.
“You don’t need me to say it, but he’s got a really good understanding of what running a rugby club feels like, because he’s done it for a long time.
“He’s been in and we’ve just chatted through the players who have been called into the national squad.
“Rob Howley and Mike Forshaw have been in, Humphs (Jonathan Humphreys) has been in. There’s been a lot of dialogue with the coaches here and the Welsh coaches.
“We’ve formalised some technical and tactical work-ons for the players that Rob has sent to us. We’ll feed back. The signs are that it’ll be a lot more joined up.”
𝐉𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬
With 8⃣ players making their competitive debuts tomorrow, we called upon five @WelshRugbyUnion & @lionsofficial legends to help us present the famous Blue & Black jerseys.
Diolch @Jamiehuwroberts @samwarburton_ et al a pob lwc bois 💙🖤 pic.twitter.com/QGPBP7D2jr
— Cardiff Rugby (@Cardiff_Rugby) September 19, 2024
Cardiff played a high tempo style, with plenty of width and counter-attacking last season that earned the approval of their supporters, even though they only managed to win four games in the United Rugby Championship.
Wales player a tighter game and Sherratt believes it’s important for the Welsh coaches to appreciate that not all the regions will want to follow a national team gameplan.
“They’ve been in the game long enough to know not every team want to play exactly the same. So you get the feeling they’re appreciative that your priorities are yours.
“If there’s a way of having some middle ground, as obviously when we put Mason Grady at 12 against Bath as an example, I’m more than happy to do that.
“But Ben, when he’s here, his first -choice position will be 12, and Mason’s will be one out at 13.
“If we need them to, they can always slot in. And we’ll find a middle ground with the national coaches in terms of making sure Ben is getting some kicking load.”
✨Kit Away per la Stagione 24-25 💛💙
Leggi la news completa sul nostro sito🦓👇🏻https://t.co/Y8qzhRcBlo#WeAreZebre pic.twitter.com/Wm7vaGedJG— Zebre Parma 🦓 (@ZebreParma) September 18, 2024
Callum Sheedy will make his Cardiff debut in the No.10 shirt against Zebre, with Aled Davies also playing his match at scrum-half.
Thomas plays at inside centre, with Grady picked on one wing and another new face, former Newcastle wide man Iwan Stephens, on the other.
Bookmakers DragonBet have Cardiff as 200/1 long shots to become URC champions this season.