Aaron Wainwright: 'I'm definitely excited about getting out there and trying to set things right'

PROVE PEOPLE WRONG: Wales are on a 14-match losing streak but Aaron Wainwright and co are hoping to put that right and spoil Irelands party at the same time.

Aaron Wainwright knows all about how painful the Six Nations can be. As if being a part of a Welsh team that has lost its last eight games in a row in the championship wasn’t bad enough, in the opening match against France last month he picked up 11 stitches in his cheek.

That forced the Dragons back row man out of the game at Stade de France after only four minutes, yet he was back in action the following weekend when he came off the bench in the defeat to Italy in Rome.

“I think I face-planted Antoine Dupont's boot. Well, if it's got to be anyone's boot!” he said.

“And, ‘no’ I wasn’t trying to kiss his feet. I'd just got up and there was blood coming from my face, so I thought I must have done something pretty bad.

“When they stitched it up they said I couldn’t go back on. A few friends and family have said it'll be a good story to tell after I finish playing.” 

It may raise a smile on the after dinner circuit in a few years time, but the story Wainwright would love to tell is how the Welsh team broke the record run of 14 defeats in all matches that led to the departures of Warren Gatland and Rob Howley from the national coaching set-up last week.

He may have a Grand Slam in his locker from 2019, a third-place play-off at the World Cup that same year and a brief taste of belonging to the number one ranked side in the world earlier on is his international career, but now he belongs to a different sort of reality.

He is expected to return to the starting line-up against Triple Crown chasing Ireland this weekend and would have good reason to believe there is little or no chance of ending the losing streak. In seven games for Wales against the Irish he has won only once, while in 15 games for the Dragons against the four provinces he has picked up two wins and a draw.

But the mounting number of defeats, as well as his own personal stats against Irish teams, isn’t going to stop the 55-times capped Wainwright from enjoying this weekend’s clash at Principality Stadium. Neither will they dent his desire to do all he can to change the trend.

“There isn’t a lot of positivity around Welsh rugby at the moment and there's obviously no hiding away from the fact this is a pretty low point. We are on a run of defeats and everyone goes out each weekend to try to put that right,” he said.

“We don't go out there to lose, and the important thing for us this weekend is that we’re going to be playing in a packed-out Principality Stadium. That gives us a great chance to go out and put in a performance against one of the best teams in the world and potentially, and hopefully, come away with a result.

“That's what we're all aiming towards and that's what we've been speaking about in training. What a good opportunity this could be to have everyone getting behind us - it will be amazing.

“It could be a real catalyst for us and that's what you play international rugby, to play in the big pressure moments, big pressure games. I'm definitely excited about getting out there and trying to set things right.

“It’s a massive challenge as Ireland are one of the best teams in the world. They are incredibly well-drilled all the way across the park, so we’ve got to be right on our game.

“Matt Sherratt has told us he wants us to enjoy these next three days. If we go out there and express ourselves and show that we've enjoyed this week then I'm sure the fans will get a sense of that and really get behind us and drive us on.

“Ireland are incredibly detailed in whatever they do in line-out, attack shape, breakdown stuff - all the little things that they can do and get away with, they will. And that's why they're so good.

“Hopefully, we can try and nullify that and take away their detail as much as we can by being nuisances. That's what we have to do – go out there and prove people wrong!”