Wales’ 2025 Six Nations campaign ended in disappointment, with the team picking up the dreaded Wooden Spoon. It’s the latest setback for a nation that once dominated the tournament, raising serious questions about the future.
Despite some promising individual performances, Wales struggled with consistency and lacked the cutting edge needed to compete at the highest level.
We discuss the Six Nations in full and look at the steps Wales must take to rebuild their rugby future.
Despite some promising individual performances, Wales struggled with consistency and lacked the cutting edge needed to compete at the highest level.
We discuss the Six Nations in full and look at the steps Wales must take to rebuild their rugby future.
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00:00Now, Wales' 2025 Six Nations campaign ended in disappointment once again, with the team
00:09picking up another wooden spoon. It's the latest setback for a nation that once dominated
00:14the tournament, raising serious questions about the future. Despite some promising individual
00:20performances, Wales struggled with inconsistency and lacked the cutting edge needed to compete
00:27at the highest level. As they reflect on another underwhelming campaign, the focus
00:31now returns to rebuilding. We discuss the Six Nations in full and look at the steps
00:36Wales must take to rebuild their rugby future.
00:40For Matt Sherrod, managing the losses and just making Wales seem a little bit more respectable
00:46as a side against a team like Ireland, who clearly have the ability, the quality at the
00:52moment, to really tear them apart if they get on it. So, for Wales, they just need
00:56to make it resolute and be dogged about things. So, not an easy day for Matt Sherrod, certainly,
01:01but one where he could come out with a little bit of credit.
01:04Yeah, obviously, pride's up for play massively. That completely diminished by the end of Warren
01:11Gatland's time and you were sort of on the fence, as you say. It was very, very possibly
01:16overdue if you look back in hindsight of Warren Gatland, him stepping down, of course, and
01:21Matt Sherrod coming into the interim. This is very, very unusual for a manager to take
01:27charge halfway through or a few games into a Six Nations campaign, one of the biggest
01:32tournaments in world rugby, really. It was that bad under Gatland. There was talks of
01:38a play-off for Six Nations in the future where European Championship winners would come in
01:43and replace the bottom team in the Six Nations.
01:47I just think they need support. As I said, they're a good group of lads. There's some
01:51really good players in the room as well. They just need to try and reset. As you know, there's
01:58going to be some fresh appointments over the next couple of weeks and I think it's just
02:03about resetting and trying to move forward as quickly as possible. Because today's disappointing.
02:10It's devastating for the players.
02:14Listen, just over the last four weeks, it's important as well. I don't take today and this is my
02:20last in memory. I've really enjoyed the four weeks. They're a good group of lads. There has been
02:25some improvement. It's difficult to say that today after that loss, but I've probably got to
02:30reflect on it and just look at the past four weeks in general. I'm not going to get drawn on the
02:35state of Welsh rugby. We know where we are, I think, and it's about moving forward in the next
02:40couple of weeks.
02:42What can be done and who can come in to not only steady the ship after Matt Sherrod departs, but
02:48also revitalise Wales, make them a great rugby nation once again, because that in itself is quite
02:54the ask, isn't it?
02:56Yeah, it really is. It's important to point out that Wales just six years ago, 2019, were one of
03:02the top, top rugby nations in the world, reached that World Cup semi-final. We're absolutely
03:08fantastic throughout the tournament, building up to that. Now, to go with a record of 14 test
03:13defeats in a row, replacing that and the job of rebuilding Wales is both tough and an attractive
03:22proposition at the same time. You have to see it as that this is a real chance for a coach to come
03:28in and grab it by the scruff of the neck and get Wales back to the very best. As you mentioned,
03:33we've mentioned multiple times, they are a rugby nation, Wales. It's the most important sport in
03:40the country and it's something so many thousands of people care about and it's a massive job.
03:46So, yeah, you're looking at a few names linked with the job. Simon Easterby from Ireland, Glasgow
03:54Warriors boss Franco Smith, Australian Michael Chaker. Now, there's a lot of echoes going on in
04:01the Welsh rugby union in terms of they do have the money to appoint a high-class replacement.
04:08Abbie Tierney, the CEO, has said that they hope that the new head coach will be in by the summer,
04:14by the time they go to Japan. One that stands out for me is Simon Easterby. I think it's not just
04:21his impressive coaching abilities that he's demonstrated, it's sort of his deep-rooted
04:27understanding of Welsh rugby and I think that's the route they need to go down. They need to
04:30make sure they have a coach that come in and understands Wales. A new coach is going to be
04:36announced before the summer tour of Japan and then hopefully they can push on and become that
04:41top Welsh rugby nation once again.