Wales star Josh Adams has revealed just how close he came to turning down the Lions.
It was no surprise the try machine was named in Warren Gatland’s squad for the tour to South Africa last summer but accepting the call was a decision he wrestled with.
Adams was receiving the highest honour a player from these parts can get but the tour collided with the date his partner, Georgia, was expected to give birth to their first child. It put Adams in an impossible position and in a new behind-the-scenes documentary, Two Sides, which airs this Sunday on ITV, the 27-year-old discusses the situation.
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“He read my name off, me and her were obviously up screaming, like oh my God, but then also thinking – s**t,” he said.
“There were many a conversation had, a lot of tears, I can tell you that. I was so close to saying: ‘Look, I’m very grateful for being selected but I can’t go’.
“My fiancée and my family were so supportive, they were saying it was once in a lifetime and you might never get to represent the Lions again.”
Unsure of what to do and worried about how it may look, Adams consulted with Georgia’s family before heading off.
Georgia said: “My instant reaction was that we’re not even talking about it, we’re not thinking twice, he’s got to go but it was difficult for Josh.
“He spoke to my family because he was really worried that they would think that he’s leaving me for the birth but their reaction was the same as mine. They were really on board with him going.”
Of course, in the end, Adams did tour and in some style. He racked up eight tries in five matches in the famous red jersey, making the sacrifice worthwhile.
He was pencilled in to face South Africa ‘A’ in Cape Town as the tour reached the business end of proceedings but received a text as he entered the changing rooms before the match.
Georgia was going into hospital to give birth and the documentary shows the speedster chatting with Gatland to pull out of the match and heading to a hospitality suite to see the birth via video call.
“I’d had a text saying: ‘Josh, I’ve gone into hospital’,” he recalls.
“I had it all set up in front of me on FaceTime. Georgia’s mum was there with all the scrubs and stuff, looking at Georgia.
“I was a dad that night.”
Georgia sums things up nicely, adding: “It makes me quite emotional really. He was getting the biggest achievement he’ll ever have in his career but also missing the biggest thing that will ever happen in his life.
“But I would do it all again. It was so worth it and we’re so proud of him.”
*Two Sides is the behind-the-scenes documentary of the Lions tour with access in both the Lions and South Africa camps. The first episode airs on ITV at 10:20pm on Sunday, June 19.
