00:00Well, for the Wales men's national rugby team, their losing streak in international rugby
00:06has finally come to an end against Japan.
00:11One of the most embarrassing losing streaks perhaps in all of world rugby has come to
00:15an end with this victory for Wales.
00:16It was such a poor period for the Welsh men's rugby team.
00:21Obviously, Wales as a nation are such a nation of rugby lovers, especially with their men's
00:25team.
00:26And for this record to be continuing on and on and on, going through, of course, the
00:29Six Nations up to now with this tour in Japan, it was just such a case of national embarrassment,
00:36I think.
00:37The fact that this rugby-proud nation just couldn't seem to buy a win from anywhere.
00:41And yet, finally, one has arrived.
00:44And now it's a case of where do they go from here?
00:46How do they keep this belief in this momentum and change the momentum, in fact, using this
00:52win?
00:53And let's go now to our Wales sport correspondent, Charles Higg Jones.
00:56Charles, I'm presuming, first of all, it's just a case of utter relief for Wales.
01:01But that will swiftly die away.
01:03And after that, I'm sure it's a case of building as quickly as possible on this victory.
01:07They can't just let it be a solitary, lone victory.
01:10They have to make sure that they use it to the best of their abilities to build on and
01:13lay foundations for the future of Welsh rugby as a whole.
01:16This is not just one small matter.
01:19It's the fact that they have to completely reset Welsh rugby and ultimately get themselves
01:24back on their feet and go again as a rugby-loving nation.
01:29So what do you think?
01:30How do they progress from this?
01:31But also, just how overwhelming will their relief currently be?
01:35Yeah, obviously, the overriding factor is huge relief for Matt Sheridan and the nation as
01:44a whole.
01:46You know, 644 days, brutal 18-test match losing run is over.
01:53However, the worst streak for any Tier 1 nation, I mean, it's obviously been reiterated time
01:58and time again in those near 650 days that, you know, how important this was and how different
02:05this was for Wales.
02:06We mentioned a number of times before how strong they've always been as a rugby nation, as one
02:11of the top sides in the world.
02:14And this fall-off has been incredibly dramatic.
02:16And, you know, to touch on the sort of WRU, the position they're in, dealing with the club
02:21situation at the moment as well.
02:23It sort of never really helped.
02:25It was looking at it, one bad thing on top of another on another.
02:29And then that's all happening off the pitch.
02:31It's incredibly tough to then turn something into something positive on the pitch.
02:37And they clearly suffered for that.
02:39I mean, Matt Sheridan, obviously, was hired mid-Six Nations.
02:43He focused on the basics, like defence kicking and contact.
02:47And it has to say it paid off in Japan in that second test in Kobe.
02:51But, you know, you have to give Matt Sheridan some huge credit here.
02:56He came in to a Wales side on the back of Warren Gatnan's, you know, tenure that really fizzled
03:01out dramatically.
03:03Took over halfway through his Six Nations, an incredibly tough one.
03:06And, you know, suffered the record loss to England at home as well for a Welsh nation.
03:11So the sort of the records that were deemed negative were just adding up for Wales.
03:18So how do you stay positive amongst all that?
03:21But if you look at Matt Sheridan, if you look at the way he goes about things and his press
03:25conferences, his attitude towards it all was always still remaining so positive, which
03:30was great to see.
03:31He really wanted to focus on bringing young players through and making a massive impact
03:35on their future careers as well.
03:37So huge credit to Matt Sheridan.
03:39Look, he's, you know, as I say, inherited a massive group, a huge pressurised situation.
03:44And yes, the results still didn't improve massively.
03:47But the belief just seems to possibly be creeping in.
03:52And they've finally got over that line with ending the drought.
03:55I mean, 31-22 in terms of on the pitch.
03:59That was the score.
04:01Kieran Hardy with two tries.
04:03Dan Edwards was 25 points with a key to the turnaround.
04:07I mean, players like Josh Adams, Josh McLeod, Aaron Wainwright's impressed as well.
04:11They showcase fight and belief.
04:13And this is something that does come from playing for Wales.
04:16It's always been that sort of hard work, the emotional structure that you have to have to
04:22go and get these wins.
04:25That's on the pitch with the players as well.
04:27And hopefully they can get back to their very best because the World Cup is fast approaching
04:32and Wales really want to be in the mix.
04:34They want to improve their world rugby ranking to make sure they give themselves the best chance
04:39of performing once again on the world stage.
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