Josh Navidi is still hurting now. A fair few days have gone by, but Wales’ defeat at the hands of Italy continues to eat away at him.
The silent dressing room after the game, the sense of deep disappointment and feeling gutted for milestone men Dan Biggar and Alun Wyn Jones. All those emotions still resonate for the Cardiff flanker as he reflects on the last-gasp loss to the Azzurri at the Principality Stadium. You can read more reaction to the shock 22-21 defeat here.
“It was hard to take. It will sit in the back of the mind for a long, long time,” said Navidi. "It’s not something you take lightly when it’s in your home town. It still hurts now. It was just quiet in the dressing room afterwards. It was going to be. It was a big occasion for Dan and Alun Wyn (who won their 100th and 150th Wales caps respectively). I was obviously gutted losing, but I was more gutted for them.
Read more: Stars contact World Rugby over concerning Six Nations incidents and Welsh region 'appalled'
“Obviously on the day it didn’t go our way. Italy played well, they played the right areas. For them to them finish the way they did is obviously disappointing on our behalf, but fair play to them, they saw the game out and got the win. I haven’t watched the game back yet. I will at some point. You need to look through it, reflect on it, put it to bed and move forward.”
For the 30-cap Navidi, the big positive he can hang on to is that he is back playing rugby again. Having played 20-plus games a season for the first decade of his career, he’s gone on to have a wretched run on the injury front over the last couple of years. So does he just put that down to bad luck?
“I don’t know," he replies. "I think it’s probably age more than anything, with all those games catching up to me! I think I was fortunate I played a lot of rugby as a youngster coming through. The last couple of seasons I have just picked up injuries. My shoulder has gone twice this past year and I had concussion the year before. I’m just not been getting game time so it’s nice to get back out there.”
Having dislocated his shoulder in October, Navidi returned to action against Ulster at the start of this month and was then fast-tracked straight into the Wales team to start at No 7 in the Six Nations outings against France and Italy.
“At the end of the day, you go on the field and you’ve just got to give your best performance. Four and a half months is a long time out. If it’s two months you can probably get away with it. Playing against Ulster I could feel it’s a bit different from doing a lot of training.
"It’s a lot more physical with the contact and getting up off the floor. It does take time to recover, but by the last game I felt real good with my lungs and legs. I feel back to normal fitness-wise and like I am getting into my stride now.
“So fingers crossed I stay fit and just keep it moving now. It’s just good to get three games under my belt. We have got a lot of matches to play, so hopefully I can pick up a lot of rugby towards the end of the season now.”
Next up for the 31-year-old is Saturday’s Arms Park clash with Glasgow, who are coached by his former Cardiff boss Danny Wilson.
“It’s nice to be back with the boys. Everyone knows Danny pretty well. Glasgow have got good runners, good ball players and they like to play fast. I am really looking forward to it. Hopefully it will be an exciting game of rugby. I just need to get a run of games and enjoy it, so fingers crossed.”
