Warren Gatland will be glad to see the back of this Six Nations campaign as Wales ended the championship with a 41-28 defeat to France in Paris.
This has been a tough six weeks for Wales, who only narrowly avoided the Wooden Spoon, and Gatland has a lot of work to do if he is to turn around their fortunes at the Rugby World Cup.
Wales were blown away by a rampant France side who crossed for five tries courtesy of Damian Penaud (twice), Jonathan Danty, Uini Atonio, and Gael Fickou, but there were plenty of positives.
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Gatland's men touched down four times themselves, with George North, Bradley Roberts, Tomos Williams, and Rio Dyer claiming tries.
Small strides forward in attack
Wales' attack has been criticised throughout the course of the championship, with many pundits identifying it as the area in most need of improvement before the Rugby World Cup.
This was a step in the right direction at the Stade de France, and we can finally see a pattern to Wales' attack under Alex King.
In their previous four test matches the forwards were taking the ball static, and Wales ran out of ideas after three or four phases.
If they didn't get over the gain-line they were in trouble but there was a lot more variety in Wales' game against France.
Wales showed their attacking mindset within the first two minutes when Dan Biggar turned down a relatively straightforward shot at goal to go for the corner.
Now it's worth noting Wales had very little to lose in Paris, and if it was a World Cup quarter-final the likelihood is they would have opted for the three points instead.
But Wales put more width on the ball than they had previously and there was more subtlety in their game.
They played close to the gain-line with some clever tip on passes from the tight-five forwards unlocking the French defence on more than one occasion.
This is something simple which both Ireland and New Zealand have used effectively over the past few seasons.
Wales weren't clinical enough in attack but they were less predictable and did cross for four tries.
There remains plenty of room for improvement in this facet of play but at least there were signs of improvement.
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Defensive problems
Under Shaun Edwards, Wales' defence was so good it was effectively their best attacking weapon.
They are nowhere near that level at the moment but it's unfair to expect them to be given new defence coach Mike Forshaw has only had five test matches as part of Gatland's backroom staff.
No player in the squad will have worked with Forshaw before they met up for the Six Nations, and it takes time to get used to a new defensive system.
Having said that, we can only judge what we see on the field and Wales have slipped off too many tackles during the course of the Six Nations.
There have been gradual improvements, with their line-speed improving game on game but they do get carved up too easily, especially in midfield.
The problem is Gatland doesn't have the same power at his disposal as he had during the majority of his first tenure in charge.
His side were gutsy and held onto the ball well, while their discipline was much improved but they don't have the raw physicality or the explosive ball carriers which the likes of France and Ireland have in abundance.
Wales conceded five tries in Paris and a total of 159 points throughout the course of the Six Nations. Put simply if they want to get out of their World Cup pool, which includes two of the most potent attacking sides in Australia and Fiji, they will have to do better than this.
Character
Wales were second best in almost all aspects of the game in Paris but one thing they can't be criticised for is their character, and they will need plenty of that over the next six months with the World Cup around the corner.
At 34-7 it would have been easy to throw in the towel, and most fans would have feared the very worst with a cricket score very much on the cards, but Wales showed tremendous courage to claw their way back into the game.
The bare minimum Gatland requires from his side is a high work rate and character. They lost to a better side in Paris but they did tick those two important boxes.
When you take over a side in freefall the first thing any coach needs to do is turn them into a difficult side to beat, and France didn't get it easy in Paris.
They've also had to deal with a huge amount of issues off the field, with Welsh rugby politics undoubtedly playing a negative part in Wales' Six Nations campaign.
There was a real positivity about Wales in the French capital and even when the home side crossed for their fifth try with a mere two minutes remaining they found a way to end this test match on a high note.
Life outside the toxic Welsh rugby goldfish bowl
There were many who questioned why Gatland wanted to take his squad to Nice for a training camp inbetween the Italy and France test.
Historically, getting out of Welsh rugby's goldfish bowl has done them the world of good, and even though they are far from the finished article, performances were better in Rome and Paris.
With all the off field distractions it must have felt liberating to get away from all the negativity back home.
Gatland will have two months of uninterrupted access to his players in the lead up to the World Cup, and the New Zealander is bound to set up training camps overseas as he did in 2011, 2015, and 2019.
These camps have also done wonders for Wales' fitness down the years, and Gatland emphasised in the week leading up to their Six Nations conclusion in Paris they would need to work on their conditioning ahead of the World Cup in September.
This can only be a good thing for Wales.
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