Men’s Six Nations: Wales v England
Venue: Principality Stadium, Cardiff Date: Saturday, 15 March Kick off: 16:45 GMT
Coverage: Watch on BBC One, BBC Sport website and app. Text commentary and highlights on BBC Sport website and app. Listen live on BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru, BBC Radio 5 Live.
England fly-half Fin Smith has praised the influence of Wales interim head coach Matt Sherratt on his career before the two sides meet in the Six Nations finale.
England head to Cardiff on Saturday, where victory against Wales would keep Steve Borthwick’s team in Six Nations title contention before tournament favourites France tackle Scotland.
Smith has become England’s first-choice number 10 during the tournament and says he has Sherratt to thank for his development.
Although Smith is now at Northampton, Sherratt was his first coach at Worcester and gave him some vital advice to follow if he wanted to follow in the footsteps of George Ford and Owen Farrell.
“He sat me down for an honest conversation that I won’t forget when I was midway through my first year with Worcester as an 18-year-old,” said Smith.
“He was saying Faz (Owen Farrell) and Fordy (George Ford) were playing week in, week out, and if I wanted to get to that level, which he said at the time that he thought I could, I needed to push.
“He looked out for me and gave me a shot in my first year. As a coach, it is probably not the easiest thing to do, but I am grateful to him and I have been speaking to him for a while since he left Worcester.”
Smith says he will be grateful that Sherratt encouraged him.
“It is easy to turn up, follow the schedule like everyone else does – weights, then meetings – and he was just like, ‘if you want to take that step you have got to be doing things slightly differently to everyone else’,” said Smith.
“So he encouraged me to get in and kick on my days off, use my free time to look at videos, be practising my skills, my passing. That was good.
“It is easy to go in as a young lad, turn up and follow the same path, and if you want to jump out ahead of the crowd you have 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 am grateful he did that.”
While England are in the mix for Six Nations silverware, Wales and Italy find themselves in a scrap to stave off the Wooden Spoon.
A point against England could be enough to avoid finishing bottom for a second successive season if Italy fail to secure anything against Ireland.
Wales have not managed a victory but have regrouped under Sherratt who took over from Warren Gatland on a temporary basis halfway through the tournament.
Gloucester-born Sherratt will be plotting the downfall of his fellow countrymen this weekend in his final game in charge before he returns to coach Cardiff.
Wales are on a run of 16 successive Test defeats but pushed Ireland to the limit in Cardiff before securing two losing bonus points against Scotland.
“I have got a lot to thank him for, and it was no surprise to me whatsoever he has turned things around quickly,” said Smith.
“He is an unbelievable people person, and those boys are playing with a lot more confidence. That is something he has brought to them.
“He has got an unbelievable attacking brain as well, and you can see by the way they are moving the ball and some of their strike-plays, he has stamped his name all over that stuff.
“He has them all on the same page, which is the main thing. He has got them to fight for each other again. He has clearly put some pride back into the shirt.”
