A dialectologist will correctly point that the suggestion that Matt Sherratt was trading in Estuary English this week would be somewhat misplaced, the Wales interim coach straddling the Severn rather than treading the Thames as he bridged two proud two rugby cultures. It is the story of the life of an understated figure suddenly at the centre of Welsh rugby having developed his coaching career on either side of the river.
Born to an English father and Welsh mother, the 47-year-old could recall many memories of this fixture from his youth – and not all totally positive. “I used to have to sit between my mum and dad to split them up,” the man they call Jockey chuckles. “And then I’d switch sides depending on who won.
