Liam Williams has called on the Wales players to take responsibility for a disappointing 2020 Guinness Six Nations campaign as they look to rediscover their best form.
Wales were the reigning Grand Slam champions going into this year’s Championship but after defeating Italy in the opening round, Wayne Pivac’s side lost their remaining four games.
Their loss to Scotland on Super Saturday followed a warm-up defeat to France, meaning Wales will begin the new Autumn Nations Cup tournament without a win in five games.
But while Williams acknowledged that the pressure is on in his BBC Sport column, he is confident they can get back on track as he urged his teammates to take their share of the blame.
“There is definitely pressure around at the moment. We have lost five games on the bounce. Some of that pressure is on Wayne as head coach but I’m sure he’s coping fine,” he said.
“He is not the one that takes the field and it’s down to players to get the win.
“So we need to take responsibility. We speak a lot in the week in team meetings and say what we’re going to do in our game plan, so it’s down to us as a team to go out and deliver that.
“So some of that responsibility comes down to us as well, it’s not just down to Wayne.
“He’s the head coach and oversees it all, but it’s the players who need to improve on the performances and put things right. The Scotland defeat was tough to take.
“The most disappointing thing is we didn’t fire a shot in attack and that has to change.”
Wales begin their Autumn Nations Cup campaign against Championship rivals Ireland before facing Georgia and 2020 Guinness Six Nations champions England in Group A.
And Williams says Wales are just concentrating on themselves ahead of the tournament curtain-raiser in Dublin as they look to avenge their 24-12 defeat to Ireland earlier this year.
“Skipper Alun Wyn Jones always speaks about us being in our own bubble here and we don’t tend to listen to anything outside of that bubble,” the 29-year-old full back continued.
“We are here to do a job and concentrate on our game. If we get our own house in order, we will be alright. Nobody outside the group knows what that is like.
“All the boys have bought into the new coaches, especially some of the younger guys who haven’t been coached by the other guys before them.
“The role of the senior players is huge. We have quite a few older heads here and they have been fantastic with the likes of Alun Wyn, Dan Biggar and Jonathan Davies setting an example.
“The message is the Six Nations is done now and the line has been drawn in the sand. We can’t change those results so we’ve been working hard this week.
“The energy has been good, surprisingly good after five defeats.
“This is a new competition so let’s give it a good crack.”
