It may be two and a half years since their desperately sad demise but the impact of the Worcester Warriors on this Six Nations is clear. Hope is growing that rugby may return to Sixways in the not-too-distant future, with an encouraging update provided by the relaunched club on Friday, but the lost and listless supporters shorn of their club so suddenly can at least take some degree of solace in seeing several past Worcester favourites shining on the biggest stage.
The Severn splits the cathedral city and on either side of the river, the Warriors spirit is strong. In the England camp, Fin Smith increasingly looks like the fly-half of the present and future, although his reunion with former club colleague Ollie Lawrence has been cut short by the centre’s serious achilles injury which has ended his season. Across the border, Matt Sherratt is reaching the end of an interim stint that has breathed new life back into his adopted nation, the Cardiff coach set to return to club duties having counted two stops at Sixways as vital steps in his unlikely journey from schoolteacher to international interim boss.
It is not overstating it to say that England’s complex fly-half picture might have looked rather different had Sherratt never set foot in Worcester. The talent that Smith possessed was evident as he rose through the ranks but it took an honest chat from the then Warriors backs coach in 2020 to truly drive the attitude and application that a teenage 10 required to quickly achieve bigger things.
“He was my first coach at Worcester,” Smith recalls of Sherratt as he looks ahead to England’s trip to Cardiff on Super Saturday. “I’ve got a lot to thank him for.
“He actually sat me down for a really honest conversation that I won’t forget when I was midway through my first year as an 18-year-old. He was saying Jonny [Wilkinson], Owen Farrell, and George Ford were all playing week in, week out [at my age] and if you want to get to that level, which he said at the time that he thought I could, then I really need to push and not wait to follow the same trajectory that the boys in the academy who were the same age as me.”
It was a conversation that changed Smith’s life. Rapidly, the fly-half went from a playmaker of potential to an established first-teamer, making his senior debut within a matter of months. A season later, after Worcester’s suspension from the Premiership forced a relocation, Smith stepped into the Northampton Saints dressing room with the confidence and composure that Sherratt had instilled to help transform his new club’s fortunes.
“He really looked out for me and gave me a shot in my first year,” Smith explains. “As a coach, it’s probably not the easiest thing to do but I’m really grateful to him.
“He was just like, ‘if you want to take that step you’ve got to be doing things slightly differently to everyone else’. He encouraged me to get in and kick on my days off, use my free time to look at video, be practising my skills, my passing. It’s easy to go in as a young lad, and you see a lot of the boys do it at Northampton, turn up and follow the same path.
“I think if you really want to jump out ahead of the crowd you’ve got to be putting extra work in. So he gave me a bit of a slap, told me to crack on and do a bit more and I’m super grateful he did that.”
Sherratt has insisted he has no desire to take on the Welsh job on a full-time basis, happy to return to Cardiff colours as he continues his growth as a coach. But the impact he has made in a short time with Wales has been readily evident, even if their long losing run has continued.
The pair may have taken divergent paths but Smith and Sherratt remain in regular contact. “I texted him saying all the best with the Wales stuff and he said, ‘eff off, I’ll see you in a few weeks’,” Smith reveals. “That just sums him up; it was nice to know he’s not changed since he got the big job.
“He’s an unbelievable people person and those boys are playing with a lot more confidence and I think that’s something that he has brought to them. He’s got an unbelievable attacking brain as well, you can see by the way they’re moving the ball and some of their strike plays, he’s stamped his name all over that stuff. He’s clearly put some pride back into the shirt so credit to him, but it’s going to make our job going down there all the more difficult.”
England head into the final round still with title hopes, having swept their home games. A four-win Six Nations – which would be deemed something of a success regardless of events elsewhere – is very much within reach. Having sparkled in the sunshine against Italy to suggest a new attacking dawn, the Cardiff cauldron will provide quite the different challenge for Smith and co.
Steve Borthwick has a decision to make in the centres after Lawrence’s injury, with Elliot Daly doing his chances no harm after his relocation on Sunday. A recall for Henry Slade, a move inside for Tommy Freeman and a first cap for Oscar Beard – said to be flying in training – are all also under consideration. Max Ojomoh, well liked by the England set-up, has been called up to replace his Bath teammate in the squad.
But steering the ship again will be Smith, who is relishing the opportunity to test himself again having handled hostile atmospheres in Limerick and Durban on his way to signature Northampton wins in the last two seasons. A trip to Cardiff will tick another item off the 22-year-old’s rugby bucket list.
“I played against Wales during Covid time in the Under-20s Six Nations but there was no crowd so I got off light. Murrayfield was one of the stadiums I always wanted to play at and the Principality is exactly the same, it’s going to be awesome.
“I can’t say it’s not going to potentially have an effect on the way the game goes but it’s definitely something I’ll handle way better than I would have 18 months, two years ago. It’s something I’ve really tried to look forward to – rather than let crowds put me into my shell, really embrace them. Whether the roof is on or not, it’s going to be bouncing.”
