Being dropped from tour was a kick in the teeth... now Josh is out to make most of a second chance

THE rollercoaster on which a professional athlete rides is riddled with highs and lows, though seldom do the troughs follow the peaks without a ball being kicked in between.

However, that is the unfortunate scenario that Wales winger Josh Adams found himself enduring last month when he was dropped from the national squad – along with Tomas Francis and Luke Charteris – after being initially named in the touring party.

The reasons for which were well out of his control.

Rules surrounding the release of foreign players at Aviva Premiership clubs – Adams currently plays for Worcester Warriors – meant that he wasn’t available to Warren Gatland until the second week of the threematch trip.

With Francis and Charteris in the same boat, the Wales boss did away with the trio as the point of this tour was to be working closely with this group for a concerted period of time.

But the 23-year-old was called up after a tour-ending injury to Steff Evans in the victory over South Africa in Washington DC.

He was in, then he was out and, suddenly, he was back in.

“It’s been a bit up and down. I was really happy to get selected on the tour originally, I’d put some hard work in after the Six Nations, leading up to the selection for the tour.

“I thought I did really work on the feedback I’d been given to take back to Worcester and then, with the politics of things going on above me, I was withdrawn from the tour.

“I was gutted. Every chance, every opportunity is a massive step forward to being selected for that World Cup