Adams' comments set off alarm bells as Premiership and WRU fight it out over internationals

Few players had seasons as prolific as Worcester Warriors’ Josh Adams last season and that success could now be a double-edged sword for the club.

Having initially been named in the Wales touring squad for the summer Tests, Adams was then dropped from the squad after the WRU discovered that Premiership-based players would not be released for the fixture with South Africa, a Test outside the international window. This is part of the Premiership’s policy on international player release, a rule that the competition has always had and maintained.

Both the WRU and Premiership received public backlashes for their actions and/or stances, but it seems as if the WRU may have worked an advantage in the long game with their neighbours, with Adams admitting that he was now considering his future.

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Speaking to The Independent, Adams stated that “what’s happened in the last few weeks does definitely make you think and all those things are going to come into consideration come the end of next year.”

Adams, whose 13 tries last season tied him at the top of the scoring charts with Christian Wade and Vereniki Goneva, has one more season to go on his contract with Worcester and it is likely he will be one of the WRU’s top priorities to lure to one of the four regions for the 2019/20 season.

If the wing can once again help Worcester avoid relegation from the Premiership next season and back up his form from this campaign, he will be a man in demand, not only with the WRU, but also a host of Premiership and Top 14 clubs.

Should the WRU move for him and offer him the lure of international rugby, or a bigger club presents him with a lucrative contract and a chance to win trophies, Worcester are going to be hard-pressed to keep the wing.