Josh Adams: Wales wing urges nation to stick with losing side
- Published
Wales wing Josh Adams has scored 14 tries in 26 internationals
Wing Josh Adams has urged the Welsh public to keep faith in the national side despite their floundering fifth-place finish in the Six Nations.
The 14-10 loss to Scotland was a fourth defeat in the 2020 tournament, matching the solitary win of the 2007 campaign.
It was a fifth successive loss for Wayne Pivac's side as Wales turn their attention to the Autumn Nations Cup later this month.
"I can only say stick with us," said Adams.
Wales won the Grand Slam in 2019 but could only finish above Italy a year later as England clinched the title.
"I understand the frustrations, I was a supporter once and I know exactly how they feel," said the 25-year-old Cardiff Blues player.
"It is difficult because we never want to lose, especially at home. We're doing our best and I'd like to think every single one of us represents the country with pride.
"We put our bodies on the line because we are all proud Welshmen. I've no doubt we'll continue to work hard, pull together, no matter the results."
Wales have not been used to losing many games in the Six Nations.
"None of us want to lose," said Adams.
"Every player in a stage of their career will have a patch where they don't pick up a few wins. It's how we come together as a team, which we are working extremely hard in the week to do that."
Pivac and right-hand man Stephen Jones have been trying to introduce a new attacking system but it has not paid dividends yet.
"The Six Nations it was his (Pivac's) first real tournament where he was implementing his philosophies with Byron (Hayward) in defence and Stephen in attack," said Adams.
"I'm sure you could all see the way we were going about it in the Six Nations and I thought we did it fairly well at times. I thought we were pretty good.
"The (coronavirus) break hasn't helped, but I can't use that as an excuse as we're all professional rugby players and should be picking things up quickly. At times we struggled to get some continuity or to string some phases together.
Six Nations 2020 Highlights: Wales 10-14 Scotland
"We might have gone two or three plays over five or six phases. We started to get some dents on them and a few soft edges, but it's just about getting continuity and so everyone is comfortable with their role in the team."
The post-match message from Wales was the squad were parking the Six Nations failures and concentrating on the Autumn Nations Cup, which starts against Ireland in Dublin on Friday, 13 November.
"The result isn't what we wanted but that doesn't mean we'll dwell on it," said Adams.
"It's a line in the sand now. We've got the Autumn Nations Cup - a totally new competition - coming up so have to get our minds right, bodies right so we can put our best foot forward in Dublin.
"We'll work extremely hard in the next couple of weeks, I have no doubt about that.
"We have created that pressure on ourselves from the results we've had recently. It's about how you react when your backs are against the wall. A few things and results have gone against us.
"Now we've got two weeks to get ready for Ireland and we'll make sure we put ourselves in the best possible place for the Aviva Stadium. It's the beginning of a new competition for everyone."