Johnny Williams has urged Wales fans to keep their patience and he says that Wayne Pivac’s squad will “keep moving forward”.

Wales’ latest defeat – a 24-13 Autumn Nations Cup loss to England at Parc y Scarlets – was their seventh in nine Tests since Pivac succeeded Warren Gatland last year.

It was Wales’ strongest performance of a difficult Nations Cup campaign, though, with try-scoring Scarlets centre Williams the stand-out player on only his second Test match appearance.

“Regardless of the team that we put out (against Italy), we want to finish on a high and get a result. We want to keep improving.

“I sound like a broken record, but we are looking at this (Nations Cup) series as an opportunity and to look at the depth of the squad going forward.

“If we look at the World Cup squad from 2019 to 2023, there would be a lot of guys in the age bracket of 33 to 38.

“We know that there will have to be change, and some of that is happening at the moment.

“We just need to keep working very hard as a group and believe in what we are doing. That’s what it takes – more time and hard work.

“Eddie (England head coach Eddie Jones) and I had a good chat before the game. Coaches understand what coaches go through.

“It was a good conversation. They have been building for a long time and they are a great side at the moment. We want to be a great side in 2023.”