Matt Sherratt has returned to Cardiff Rugby and is counting down the days until a crucial BKT United Rugby Championship encounter against Emirates Lions on Friday. 

The head coach spent the past month leading Wales on a temporary basis following the departure of Warren Gatland mid Six Nations. 

Sherratt took charge of Wales’ final three matches against Ireland, Scotland and France, missing only one Cardiff encounter, a loss to Leinster at the Aviva Stadium. 

But now back at the Arms Park, there has been no time to rest with the business end of the URC and the European Challenge Cup knockout stages looming.

Speaking to the media today, Sherratt said: “It’s good, it’s my first day back in today actually. I made sure Sunday, Monday I took a breath because it was a bit of a whirlwind four weeks. 

“But, the first training session back today, and it was actually really nice just to get back on the pitch.  They are obviously a good group of lads here.

“if I’m honest, it (the Six Nations ) didn’t end as we’d hoped but it was a very enjoyable four weeks.

“Having an understanding of the circumstances you’re going into as well, it was really enjoyable. The staff were brilliant and they got behind me very quickly because I know most of them.  But going in on day one of a week leading up to one of the best teams on the planet,  getting the coaching staff together, trying to get the players aligned and getting a new attacking system in place was pretty difficult.

“But rather than look at that as something that’s tough to do, how good an experience is it for me to do that? 

“Just putting yourself into uncomfortable situations in any job is the only way you get better.”

While Sherratt led Cardiff against Connacht, it was a watching brief for last month’s defeat to Leinster. And while it was a heavy loss, it was one with plenty of positives with Cardiff the first team to score four tries against the Irish outfit on their home patch. 

Now, the focus is firmly on the Lions and ensuring Cardiff capitalise on the opportunity in a key fixture for the club. 

He said: “I thought in general it was a decent performance over in Leinster.  The Irish teams have got a knack of doing that to you. You’re close and then with the amount of defending they make you do, they can be pretty ruthless at the end of both halves, which is what probably happened. 

“There’s been a three week break and that’s why you’ve got to be really mindful. It’s actually been good for me to come in after two days off and take stock, really. It’s not trying to come in and almost play your absolute A standard rugby in the first 20 minutes because the players haven’t played for three weeks. 

“It’s going to be key for this game, playing ourselves into it, not giving  the Lions easy ins early on  and making sure we get back up to speed, get the flow of the game, get the contacts back  in our bodies and then try and get our A game on the field. 

“The coaches, obviously whilst I’ve been away, have done a good job on (the importance of Friday) They’ve kind of almost made this game,  will dictate which path we go on for the rest of the season.  

“It’s a key game, it’s at home, it’s against a team that are around us in the league.  You can see it’s a tight league and you can go from  third to almost 12th in a couple of weeks. So it’s important that you pick points up at home. So that’s what we’ll be focusing on is trying to get as many points as we can.”

Tickets for Cardiff Rugby versus Emirates Lions are available now and can be purchased by clicking here.