Josh Adams believes Wales’ attacking style of play will be more effective against southern hemisphere teams than the conservative approach taken by the British and Irish Lions against the Springboks.
The 2021 Lions lost 2-1 against South Africa in the three-Test series that was criticised by some as a boring contest due to the pragmatic approach by both teams.
Adams, who was the Lions’ top try-scorer on the tour with eight touchdowns, expects Wales will be more successful against the Boks during a November itinerary that sees the All Blacks, Wallabies and Fiji visit Cardiff.
“It’s very much about challenging the opposition with ball in hand,” he said.
“There are aspects where you need to play sensibly – it is Test match rugby at the end of the day – and you’re not going to run from everywhere, but there are opportunities.
“That is the challenge. When those opportunities come, we’ve got to be good enough to take them. It isn’t just about throwing the ball around.
“Challenging the team with ball in hand and good attacking shape and structure is certainly something that can put these teams under pressure.”
“I think you’ve seen it throughout the course of Wayne’s tenure, the way we go about our style of play,” Adams explained.
“The Six Nations is an unbelievable tournament in its own right, and we have a good record in that, but showing up in the autumn when we play these big teams, continuing a winning run into the autumn and beating them is a fantastic statement to put down.
“It’ll be a massive statement if we can get some victories.”
Since 2000, Wales and South Africa have played 23 times with the Boks winning 18 of those matches.
Wales have won just three of their last 20 Tests against the Wallabies dating back to 2006. And in their fixture against the All Blacks, Wales are yet to win a single game since 1963, with New Zealand currently on a 31-game winning streak against them.
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