There is an air of maturity about Josh Adams as he heads into his third Guinness Six Nations campaign. The Cardiff Blues wing is no longer that young pretender who burst onto the international scene two years ago. After 21 caps, 11 tries and a sensational Rugby World Cup – where he finished top try-scorer – behind him, Adams is one of the leading lights in Wayne Pivac’s squad. While his rise to stardom may seem to have happened in the blink of an eye, the 24-year-old understands how far he has come in that short space of time and expanded on that onBBC Scrum V’s podcast. Adams says he no longer lets a mistake eat away at him as he looks to put his best foot forward at the next opportunity. This was evident in Wales’ clash with Fiji last October when he overcame a series of early errors to score a hat-trick, inspiring his country to a crucial 29-17 victory. “In the first five minutes I thought I was having the worst game I had ever played,” Adams said. “I don’t know what more I could have done to stop (Josua Tuisova). “He is huge and I have seen him do that to hundreds of different players. “It was a case of getting off the line and try to hit him as hard as I could but credit where credit is due as it was a great finish to get it in the corner. “I had a chance to make a break down the wing and I dropped the ball due to a bit of miscommunication. 🏉 On the latest #ScrumV podcast @growen speaks to Wales wing Josh Adams about scoring the most Rugby World Cup, coaching Yr Hendy and rooming with Louis Rees-Zammit.📱 https://t.co/H331BsyDh9🎧 @BBCSounds - https://t.co/gZCLKHA94e pic.twitter.com/Jiux8FEiYa— BBC ScrumV (@BBCScrumV) January 28, 2020 “But I scored off a cross-field kick from Biggs (Dan Biggar) which was a bit of a pick-me-up as boys tapped me on the head and said ‘Come on, let’s go’. “I had a walk-in in the same corner and as the game wore on I grew in it. “Then there was a break from Foxy (Jonathan Davies) who did a lovely pass out of the back and I dived over three or four bodies to score in the corner. “I am proud of myself because I know for a fact that a few years ago I would have gone missing.” Back in 2017, Adams admitted he had a day to forget in Wales’ 12-6 defeat to England at Twickenham. But he said he was now able to deal with setbacks. “That was a similar scenario where you make a mistake and you tell yourself ‘That’s my game done’ and ‘The review is going to be awful’,” Adams said. “But you become more mature, you grow up a little bit and realise that if you have made a mistake after six minutes you have got another 74 to go to make up for that. “One mistake doesn’t define what game you have so it is important that you don’t let mistakes get to you. “It’s all about putting it to the back of your mind and look at the next job. “For some people when they make a mistake, they already know how to correct it. “It’s weird and I have done it myself. “In training this morning, I didn’t come up quickly enough and they got around the outside. “But I knew this because I had started too tight to the 13 when I needed to be a couple of steps to the left where I am lining up on the 15’s outside shoulder, coming up square and he can’t get on the outside. “You already know the correction a split second after you made the error. “Two years ago I would not have been able to correct myself as quickly. Cardiff Blues trio named in Wales starting XV for Guinness Six Nations opener📰 https://t.co/0W4EcTLSGi pic.twitter.com/Ae3s4YPzGf— Cardiff Blues (@cardiffblues) href=“https://twitter.com/cardiffblues/status/1222860040559906816?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>January 30, 2020 “I think I would have dwelled on it a lot more which probably means I wasn’t thinking clearly and wasn’t giving myself the best opportunity to think this is what I need to do next.” Adams will be looking to pass on his experience to Wales’ new precocious talent Louis Rees-Zammit. There are similarities between the two wings with Adams and Rees-Zammit both taking the Gallagher Premiership by storm with Worcester Warriors and Gloucester respectively. Having since made the switch to the Blues, Adams believes the 18-year-old has the ability and positive attitude to make the step up to the big stage. “I was at Scarlets academy when I was aged 18,” Adams said. “l was just going about my business, playing for Llanelli RFC and the odd game for Hendy RFC. “But he has hit the ground running and been great for Gloucester. “I have been sharing a room with him for the past two nights and have had some chats with him which have been good. “I am surprise how well he is taking it in his stride to be honest with you. “He has not seemed fazed by much, he’s a good laugh, trains hard and been brilliant. “He’s very quick.”
