'It's been tough!' Wayne Pivac tells Wales star why he's stopped picking him

Aaron Wainwright has delivered a starkly honest verdict on what he admits has been the toughest season of his career so far.

It has been a real rollercoaster ride for the 36-cap back row man. Having started for Wales in his new position of No 8 against New Zealand, South Africa and Australia in the autumn, he then retained that berth for the Six Nations opener versus Ireland.

But after what he concedes was a below par display in Dublin, he was then demoted to the bench for the Scotland game, with his Dragons colleague Ross Moriarty taking over at the base of the scrum. Then, for the final three Championship fixtures, he was omitted from the match day 23 altogether amid the return of the fit-again Taulupe Faletau.

On top of that, there have been the struggles with the Dragons, who have won just the two games this term. All in all, it has been a challenging time for the 24-year-old Newport product.

“It has been tough in a few senses,” he conceded. “Looking at the Six Nations, I only had my own performances to blame. I don’t think I played well enough in the opening game and that’s probably what led to me not featuring so much for the rest of the campaign.

“That’s the nature of things I guess. It’s such a strong back row in Wales. If you don’t have a good game or you are not at the races then someone else is coming in and taking your space.”

Asked whether he could put his finger on why it went wrong for him in Dublin, he said: “Looking back, I wouldn’t be able to give you an answer off the top of my head. It just didn’t work on the day, didn’t click on the day maybe. Sometimes it just doesn’t go your way. It doesn’t mean I’m not out there giving it my all and trying to do my best. Sometimes it just doesn’t happen for you