Josh Adams says he expects to be staying with Cardiff next season - and he also expects Wales to be better next weekend against Scotland.
There has been much speculation over the future of the 45-cap Lions winger who is a target for a number of French clubs.
He has a couple of years left on his contract with Cardiff, but it’s understood Lyon are ready to offer a transfer fee to acquire his services early.
That may prove a tempting proposition for the Arms Park outfit who are faced with having their playing budget cut by some £2m next season as part of the new financial deal between the regions and the WRU.
With existing contractual commitments taking up most of that reduced budget, they may have to sell big name players in order to have the means of securing sufficient squad numbers, amid out-of-contract players leaving.
They will also be without their frontline Wales internationals for much of next season, with the World Cup taking place in the autumn, so they may have to take the tough decision to let some of them go.
What then does Adams himself make of it all, amid the talk of a potential move to France?
Speaking after Saturday’s 34-10 defeat to Ireland at the Principality Stadium, the 27-year-old was asked whether he would like to stay in Wales.
He replied: “Yeah, well I am. I am under contract at Cardiff and that’s where I am staying.
“You know how it is sometimes. There are a lot of things being thrown in the mix. But I haven’t heard anything from anyone. I am just concentrating on the here and now really.”
The here and now is the Six Nations, which got underway in disappointing fashion for Wales who were outscored four tries to one by the Irish on home soil.
Delivering a frank appraisal, Adams said: “No excuses. We need to be better definitely. Ireland just blew us away the first 20 minutes. They are a good team, they are physical, they are well drilled.
“In the first 20 minutes, they dominated us in every aspect of the game, which was disappointing. We couldn’t get a foothold in the match and they were 14 points up inside ten minutes. In international rugby, that’s a mountain to climb, especially against a team like Ireland.
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“Discipline really let us down. It was nine penalties before half-time and we keep a target of ten penalties in a whole game. That’s not a great start and is something that will need to be addressed definitely.
“I think we were a lot better in the second half. We kept our discipline, we applied a lot more pressure and we gave ourselves chances of scoring.”
Unfortunately, Wales were unable to turn those scoring opportunities into points.
“There were a few sloppy turnovers in their 22,” said Adams. “Ireland are a really good example of a team that blast past the contact area and create quick ball. That’s definitely something we can get better at in terms of our speed to breakdown and our ferocity in the contact area.
“It’s being clinical. That’s just a word, there are a lot of little bits that go with that. We will have a look at that. I am definitely confident we will get better.”
As for what he’s expecting with regards to the debrief from coach Warren Gatland, he said: “It will be honest, as it always is. It has to be.
“If you don’t have tough conversations, if you are not honest with each other, you are just papering over cracks. There is no getting better unless you are honest. He will drive us as a head coach, working harder, really focused on getting better at the aspects that didn’t go as well.
"We are so eager to go and put things right as soon as possible. Scotland are playing really well at the minute. They have got some great players, but we expect to be better next week definitely.”
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