Josh Adams says he hopes to stay at Cardiff next season and also hopes Wales will be better next weekend against Scotland.

There has been much speculation about the future of the Leo winger, who has won 45 caps and is targeted by several French clubs.

He has several years left on his Cardiff contract, but Lyon are willing to offer a transfer fee to secure his services early.

It could be a tempting proposition for the Arms Park side, who face cuts of around £2m to their playing budget next season as part of a new financial deal between the regions and the WRU.

As existing contractual commitments take up most of this reduced budget, they may have to sell off big-name players to keep enough mid-game teams of non-contract players.

They will also be without their first-team Welsh players for most of next season with the World Cup in the autumn, so they may have to make the difficult decision to let some of them go.

So what does Adams himself make of all this amid talk of a potential move to France?

Speaking after Saturday’s 34-10 defeat by Ireland at Principality Stadium, the 27-year-old was asked if he would like to stay in Wales.

He replied, “Yes, fine. I have a contract with Cardiff and I’m staying there.

“You know how it is sometimes. There are many things in the mix. But I didn’t hear anything from anyone. I focus only on the real here and now.

The here and now is a Six Nations tournament that got off to a disappointing start for Wales, beaten four tries to one by the Irish at home.

Offering a candid assessment, Adams said, “There are no excuses. We definitely have to be better. Ireland surprised us in the first 20 minutes. It’s a good team, it’s physical, it’s well prepared.

“For the first 20 minutes they dominated us in every aspect of the game, which was disappointing. We were unable to establish ourselves in the game and they scored 14 points in ten minutes. It’s a mountain to climb in international rugby, especially against a team like Ireland.

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“The discipline really let us down. There were nine penalties before the break and we are looking for ten penalties in the entire match. That’s not a good start, and that’s something to keep in mind.

“I think we were much better in the second half. We maintained discipline, applied a lot more pressure and gave ourselves a chance to score.”

Sadly, Wales were unable to convert those scoring chances into points.

“There were some sloppy turns in his 22 years,” Adams said. “Ireland is a very good example of a team that crosses the touchline and creates fastballs. This is definitely something we can improve on in terms of our breaking speed and our ferocity in the contact zone.

“It’s clinical. This is just one word, many little things are connected with it. We’re going to investigate it. I’m sure we’ll get better.”

On what he expects from manager Warren Gatland’s report, he said: “It will be fair as ever. Should be.

“If you’re not having difficult conversations, if you’re not being honest with each other, you’re just patching up the cracks. There’s nothing better if you’re not honest. He’s going to guide us as a head coach, he’s going to work harder, he’s going to focus a lot on improving the areas that didn’t work out.

“We really want to fix the situation as soon as possible. Scotland are playing very well at the moment. They have great players, but we hope to be better next week.”

Source: Wales Online