Josh Adams (born 21 April 1995) is a Welsh

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player who plays for

Cardiff Rugby Cardiff Rugby ( cy, Rygbi Caerdydd) are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and in European Professional Club Rugby competitions. Based in Cardiff, the team play at Cardiff Arms ...

in the

United Rugby Championship The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The current name was adopted in 2021 when the league expanded to include four South Afr ...

and the Wales national team as a

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expres ...

. In 2021, Adams was selected to represent the

British & Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national ...

Club career

Adams began his career with

Llanelli Llanelli ("St Elli's Parish"; ) is a market town and the largest community in Carmarthenshire and the preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is located on the Loughor estuary north-west of Swansea and south-east of the county town, Carmarthen. ...

and made his debut against

Pontypridd () (colloquially: Ponty) is a town and a community in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Geography comprises the electoral wards of , Hawthorn, Pontypridd Town, 'Rhondda', Rhydyfelin Central/Ilan ( Rhydfelen), Trallwng (Trallwn) and Treforest (). The ...

in 2013. He went on to make a total of 30 appearances for the club, scoring 9 tries. He made his first and only Scarlets appearance in the

Anglo-Welsh Cup The Anglo-Welsh Cup (), was a cross-border rugby union knock-out cup competition that featured the 12 Premiership Rugby clubs and the four Welsh regions. It was a created as a replacement for the RFU Knockout Cup, which featured only English clubs ...

defeat to

in 2014. He is also a previous Wales U20 international. In May 2014, it was announced that Adams would move to Worcester from the 2015–16 season. In February 2016, Adams moved on loan to

National League 1 National One (last season known as National League 1 and previously known before September 2009 as National Division Two), is the third of three national leagues in the domestic rugby union competition of England. It was known as Courage Leagu ...

side Cinderford until the end of the 2015–16 season. On 22 December 2017, Adams scored two tries in a 23–8 win over relegation rivals

London Irish London Irish RFC is a professional rugby union club which competes in the Premiership, the top division of English rugby union. The club has also competed in the Anglo-Welsh Cup, the European Champions Cup and European Challenge Cup. While ...

, making him the top try scorer in the Premiership around the close of December 2017. On 19 March 2019,

announced the signing of Adams on a long-term contract from the start of the 2019-2020

Pro14 The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The current name was adopted in 2021 when the league expanded to include four South Afr ...

season.

International career

Wales

In January 2018, Adams was called up to the

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

senior squad for the

2018 Six Nations Championship The 2018 Six Nations Championship (known as the Natwest 6 Nations for sponsorship reasons) was the 19th Six Nations Championship, the annual international rugby union tournament for the six major European rugby union nations. The championship wa ...

, and on 30 January he was named in the starting line-up for Wales' opening game at home to

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. On 23 February 2019, Adams sealed a Six Nations third round win for Wales against England at the Cardiff's

Millennium Stadium The Millennium Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm y Mileniwm), known since 2016 as the Principality Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm Principality) for sponsorship reasons, is the national stadium of Wales. Located in Cardiff, it is the home of the Wales national rug ...

. A cross field kick from Welsh teammate

Dan Biggar Daniel Biggar (born 16 October 1989) is a Welsh rugby union player currently playing for French Top 14 side Toulon as a fly-half. A Wales international, Biggar has also twice been selected to tour with the British and Irish Lions. Early life an ...

was gathered in the air by Adams and grounded. It was Adam's third try for Wales and meant England were all but defeated in the match. With Wales moving to first, heading into the fourth week of the

2019 Six Nations Championship The 2019 Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Six Nations for sponsorship reasons) was the 20th Six Nations Championship, the annual rugby union competition contested by the national teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland ...

. Wales won the Six Nations grand slam. On 9 October 2019 Adams scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

in a 29–17 win over

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

at the

2019 Rugby World Cup The 2019 Rugby World Cup was the ninth edition of the Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's rugby union teams. It was hosted in Japan from 20 September to 2 November in 12 venues all across the country. The opening match ...

. The win secured Wales's place in the quarter finals. Adams ended the

in Japan as the top try-scorer for the competition. On 1 February 2020 Adams scored a

for Wales in the 42-0 Six Nations win over Italy. Adams was chosen for the

2022 Six Nations Championship The 2022 Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Six Nations for sponsorship reasons) was the 23rd Six Nations Championship, the annual rugby union competition contested by the national teams of England national rugby union team, England ...

, achieving tries against both

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and Italy. He won Player of the Match against Italy, but gave this honour to Ange Capuozzo after the match.

British and Irish Lions

On 6 May 2021, Adams was selected to represent the

in the 2021 tour to South Africa. At the time of selection, Adams wife Georgia was heavily pregnant and could have impacted his availability for the tour however a mutual decision was reached for him to participate. On 26 June 2021, Adams made his Lions debut in a pre-tour warm up match against

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

Murrayfield Murrayfield is an affluent area to the west of Edinburgh city centre in Scotland. It is to the east of Corstorphine and north of Balgreen and Roseburn. The A8 road runs east–west through the south of the area. Murrayfield is often conside ...

. Adams scored the opening try of the game as the Lions ran out 28-10 winners. Adams was then selected to play in the first provincial game of the tour against the Sigma Lions on 3 July 2021. Adams finished the game having scored four tries, becoming the first Lion since

Shane Williams Shane Mark Williams, (born 26 February 1977) is a Welsh rugby union player most famous for his long and successful tenure as a wing for the Ospreys and the Wales national team. He also played scrum-half on occasion. Williams is the record t ...

in 2005 to do so. Following Covid complications, Adams was drafted into the side for the following tour game against Cell C Sharks. Starting in an unfamiliar role at fullback, Adams maintained his strong start to the tour by scoring a hattrick of tries, taking his total to eight from three games.

International tries

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, Josh 1995 births Living people Cardiff Rugby players Rugby union players from Swansea Scarlets players Wales international rugby union players Welsh rugby union players Worcester Warriors players Rugby union wings Nottingham R.F.C. players British & Irish Lions rugby union players from Wales