Wales lost for the 16th time on the bounce and made it a tenth straight Six Nations reverse, but Sherratt was heartened by his side’s late rally after Scotland looked on course for a heavy victory after leading 28-8 at the break.
Wales had run Ireland close in Sherratt’s first game in charge but could not replicate that intensity in the opening exchanges against Scotland who secured a bonus point with four first-half tries.
Toulouse full back Blair Kinghorn, wing Darcy Graham and a double from New Zealand-born Tom Jordan inflicting the damage, whilst Scarlets Blair Murray did give the travelling support something to cling to on what looked to be a long afternoon.
Wales, to their credit, responded with a second-half performance of fight and determination running the hosts closer than it should have been, with Cardiff duo Ben Thomas and Teddy Williams going over.
Kinghorn’s second put to bed any hopes of an unlikely turnaround, but the Scots were given a fright with the evergreen number eight Toby Faletau having a try chalked off by TMO and Gloucester centre Max Llewellyn scoring late to provide a grandstand finale.
The Scots, though, would come out victorious and will next face competition leaders France next weekend, whilst Wales might still have a say in the final tournament outcome as they look to finish with a bang against England in Cardiff.
“We knew two things were going to be important,” said Sherratt after the game.
“They edged the contestable kicking game and their defence at the contact area was so good.
“That’s what happened in the first 40 minutes as we gave their back three some run-ups, and they are dangerous.
“The easy thing is to say there was a drop off emotionally [from the Ireland game], but I don’t think that was the case.
“It was a real brave effort at the end to come back and get two points, but I’ve seen enough of those games.
“The reality is they probably thought they’d done enough and maybe dropped off five percent.
“What I did feel though is there was a hell of a lot of effort from our boys in that last 20 minutes.
“It is really nice to get the four-try bonus point, but probably more pleasing for me was seeing the desperation to defend their line.
“It was almost like it was a one-score game with the amount of tackles some of our forwards put in those sets. It was outstanding.
“They’re a good Scotland team. I think we’ve got to remember that they outscored England three tries to one last week.
“They’ve been together for a long time and have a very distinct style of play and coaching. We run into them on a good day, there was no lack of effort, no lack of passion out there.
“I thought there was an element of maturity in the second half where we didn’t panic. We weren’t reckless.
“We weren’t just running everything and going out of the system. We managed to feed a little bit better. All the tries come from structured play, really, so it gives us something to build on and some green shoots going into the England game.
“It’s not a week now to lick your wounds, for too long.
“There’s no great challenge in than England in Cardiff. So, that’s something the boys can’t wait for and personally, for me, it should be a great occasion.”
[Lead image Welsh Rugby Union]
