ADAMS WILL SOON BE ON TRY TRAIL AGAIN
BY his own prolific standards, Josh Adams is going through a bit of a try drought at the moment.
He has now gone seven Tests without touching down for Wales, having crossed 13 times in his previous 15 outings.
The barren spell has extended to regional level of late, with no tries in his last five matches for Cardiff Blues.
It’s been a real tale of feast to famine.
But the man who was the top tryscorer at the 2019 World Cup remains philosophical about the run he is currently on.
“It doesn’t affect me too much, if I’m honest with you,” said the 25-yearold from Hendy.
“I don’t change anything that I do. I don’t change the way I train or how I prepare. I keep to the same sort of routine and methods of how I go about things.
“Tries will come.
“I play on the wing, it’s inevitable that at some point I’m going to put the ball down. Whenever that is, I don’t know.
“Look, as long as I am contributing to the team – whether that’s scoring tries, defending well or chasing kicks – then I’m happy.
“If tries come off the back of that, great, I hope they do. But as long as I am making a positive impact and the coaches are happy, that’s my focus.
“Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to be running in hat-tricks every other game again, that would be brilliant, but time will tell and I wouldn’t change anything.
“I will just keep chipping away and I am sure the tries will come.”
The 29-cap Adams hasn’t been helped by the ball not coming his way at times this season, both for club and country.
“I would have loved to see my heat-map from the Dragons game on Boxing Day,” he said.
“It was just up and down the fivemetre channel either side of the pitch, just chasing a kick or in a ruck or something.
“Dan Fish was our water boy that day and he came on the field at one point and said ‘have you paid for a ticket, because you are basically a spectator’.
“I was, like, ‘yeah, you are not wrong there, pal’.”
With this in mind – and the tries in short supply – one wonders whether he has been tempted to go roaming more than usual in search of the ball.
“We are given a freedom as wingers that if the play is not on your side, go and create an extra number on the other side, float round the ruck, try to pick out your lowernumber defenders, as in front row or second row, and try to find some mismatches,” he said.
“We are given that licence to do so.
“But then if the ball comes your way to your wing and you are not there to score, it’s your fault.
“You need to make sure you are on your wing when the time is right, when the play is coming your way, but also make sure you are not just out of the way and not doing anything.
“You need to be effective as well on the other side of the field or in and around the ruck.
“So it’s a balancing act, one that does take a bit of time, but I’m pretty comfortable with that.”
While he didn’t get on the scoresheet, Adams certainly contributes positively to the Blues’ two victories over the Scarlets since the turn of the year.
“I think that was a lot more like us,” he said.
“We had an ethos of not having any fear and just playing what was in front of us.
“You have seen that with unexpected quick tap penalties from Tomos (Williams). I wasn’t expecting one myself.
“I almost dropped it when he passed it to me!”
Adams has been named in Wales’s Six Nations squad alongside fellow wide men Louis Rees-zammit, Hallam Amos and George North, while Liam Williams is also an option for one of the wing berths.