Shane Williams’ must-read verdict
IF you thought Warren Gatland’s back-row selection for next year’s Rugby World Cup is going to be tricky, nobody in the back three will be taking anything for granted after Josh Adams’s try-scoring display in Santa Fe.
Adams really impressed me in Wales’s second Test victory over the Pumas.
He was busy throughout, looked to get his hands on the ball as much as he could, was strong in defence where he always seemed to make the right decisions, and took his try brilliantly.
Adams knew exactly what he was doing when he picked up that loose pass close to halfway.
He ran straight back into traffic, which doesn’t sound like the best thing to do, but there is so much confusion, and he made the most of it, producing a couple of searing steps on the way to the line.
It was further evidence that a player, who finished joint top of the scoring charts in the Aviva Premiership last season knows where the try line is.
After the frustration of being withdrawn from the tour because of all the politics surrounding Englishbased players, something I thought he handled very well, the Worcester speedster will have come away from the trip a very happy man.
But he can’t just sit back content that he has made it on the international stage.
Adams will be saying to himself: ‘I have put my hand up, I have shown Warren Gatland I can score tries at international level, now I need to go back to my club and keep doing the same as I did last season’.
My attitude was always to try to make it as difficult as possible for coaches not to pick me.
He will want Gats turning to his fellow coaches and saying “I just can’t not pick this guy”.
George North has so often been the go-to wing for Wales, but I thought George had a relatively quiet tour by his high standards.
You also have fellow Lions Leigh Halfpenny and Liam Williams resting up ahead of next season and the likes of Hallam Amos, Steff Evans and possibly Keelan Giles, if he can hit the ground running when he returns from his knee injury, in the mix.
Throw in Rhys Patchell and Gareth Anscombe, who can both step in at full-back, and you have some serious competition.
Over the last six months or so Adams has emerged as a real dark horse to make the plane for Japan.
And he won’t be the only player to feel he has a chance of making the World Cup party.
Before this tour, most people wouldn’t have considered young forwards Dillon Lewis and Adam Beard as contenders, but they have really put their hands up. Yes, they will be grateful for a bit of a rest and a holiday after a long campaign, but they will also be desperate to get back into training ahead of next season.
You can imagine someone like Beard, who doesn’t always get a huge amount of game-time with his region, wanting to get stuck into training at the Ospreys and will be champing at the bit to give Bradley Davies and Alun Wyn Jones a run for their money.
Players throughout the squad will be desperate to hit form ahead of the autumn series.
So often, Wales’s squads tend to pick themselves, but this autumn you sense there are going to be some quality players bitterly disappointed not to make the cut.
It is bound to happen with so many players competing for places.
It will be intriguing to see the reaction of those who miss out.
Gats doesn’t like players throwing toys out of their pram or going to the press saying “I should have been selected”.
But there are going to be casualties because he now has two or three players at least competing for each jersey.
This tour was a big statement by Wales. Warren Gatland may be leaving after the World Cup, but he is laying solid foundations for many years to come.