Wales interim head coach Matt Sherratt had plenty of support in and around Gloucestershire when he took charge of his new team for the first time against Ireland in the 6 Nations on Saturday.

Sherratt, who was born in Gloucester, is a former Crypt School pupil and is well known and well liked around these parts.

A fly-half, he played for both Spartans and Cinderford back in the 90s and the early noughties before going on to coach at Cheltenham Tigers for three years from 2009-2012.

“He was a very good player, a very skilful fly-half,” remembers Spartans chairman Neil Brinkworth.

“He wasn’t the biggest but he was very committed, he was a good player to have at the club.

“It’s really good to see someone from local rugby going on to make it at the top level. We’ve had a number of top players over the years – Phil Greening, Kev Dunn, Simon Devereux, Tony Windo – but Matt is the first player to come through and make it as a top coach, it’s great to see.”

Sherratt, a former University of Gloucestershire student who is the current head coach at Cardiff Rugby, spent around four years at Spartans before moving to Cinderford where he made a big impression on the club’s future  director of rugby Paul Morris.

“I was coaching at the Old Patesians at the time,” he recalled. “It was the County Cup final at Kingsholm in 2001, he won the game in the last minute with a left-footed drop goal almost from the halfway line. I caught the ball under the posts, he was a good player.”

He’s also a very good coach and over the years has worked as a development coach for England Rugby, an academy coach and backs coach at Worcester Warriors, a backs coach at Bristol Bears, a backs and attack coach at Cardiff Blues, and a backs coach and interim head coach at Ospreys.

He was also an assistant coach for Wales in 2017 and Morris continued: “I completed my Level 3 coaching badge with him in Selby in Yorkshire in 2006.

“I think he’s an outstanding coach, he was the star of the show on that course, there were about 35 of us and he was by far the best.

“He’s proved himself at every level, he shouldn’t be under-estimated, he knows what he’s doing.”

Sherratt lives in Sharpness and Morris sent a text to him on Saturday morning to wish him well before the Ireland game.

Wales, who had lost their previous 14 games, actually led at half-time and gave a much-improved performance before the visitors ran out 27-18 winners.

“He put round pegs in round holes,” said Morris. “He’s worked very hard to get where he is, he’s a really good bloke and I want him to do well.”

So does Steve Ratcliffe, the long-serving chairman of Cheltenham Tigers, who worked with Sherratt some 15 years or so ago.

“He was initially assistant to Liam Middleton for a couple of seasons before becoming head coach in 2011/12,” said Ratcliffe.

“He was outstanding as you’d expect, he was very good at getting the best out of people, he was a very nice guy.

“He’s done very well, I’m delighted for him, he’s already worked miracles in a week with Wales.

“Cheltenham were obviously a stepping stone for him but he was exceptional.

“The players all responded to him, he was a little bit different, he always got a spark out of them, he was innovative.

“I saw Charlie Daniell on Sunday, he was captain at Cheltenham when Matt was coach and he just said, ‘Great news about Matt’. That’s how we all feel.”

Wales travel to Murrayfield to play Scotland on Saturday 8^th March before hosting England in their final 6 Nations game of the campaign a week later. They tour Japan in the summer.