Saturday 7 October 2023 is slowly becoming a memorable and distant milestone in the annals of Welsh international rugby history.

That date was the last time Wales won a rugby match, it took place at Stade de la Beaujoire in the glorious Nantes Autumn sunshine when Wales beat Georgia 43-19 to qualify for the knock-out stages of the 2023 Rugby World Cup.

Everything in the Welsh garden appeared rosy it was their fourth win in a row at the tournament following victories over Fiji, Australia, and Portugal.

Those four consecutive wins meant Wales topped their group which earned them a Quarter Final date with the Pumas in Marseille on 14 October 2023 a match that ended in a disappointing 29-17 defeat.

Nine months later, Wales are pacing around a losing rugby labour ward and the birth of a win still seems miles away. The hope of inducing one in the second test against Australia yesterday fell painfully short in the Melbourne rain.

If the habit of winning becomes a driving force and stirs the sinews with confidence, then surely the habit of losing brings the equally negative emotion of fear and the expectation of defeat.

Wales ninth defeat in a row seemed an inevitability despite them scoring four tries and with their line-out driving maul keeping them in contention in the first half.

Ultimately, Wales made too many errors at crucial moments in the game, and it cost them dearly.

It is difficult and uncomfortable to talk about positives time after time, but Dewi Lake was immense, he led from the front as well as picking up two tries.

What this team and management desperately need is a win, just a win, a win of any kind, any way and anyhow, until that happens they are stuck in a dormant torpor of Groundhog Day proportions.

So where will that elusive victory come from ? Wales’ next international opponents are Fiji in Cardiff on Sunday 10 November followed by Australia and South Africa on consecutive weekends, you wouldn’t bet on a home win in any of those tough encounters.

The 2025 Guinness Six Nations begins against France in Paris on 31 January followed by Italy in Rome before we welcome Ireland to the Principality Stadium.

It doesn’t get an easier, next come Scotland in Edinburgh before Wales face England at home in the final game of the Championship.

How we long for the days of that Welsh rugby rollercoaster, when it was feast or famine on the international stage. At the moment that ride is closed to the public with the rollercoaster lying idle and rusting in the summer rain.

Whatever the rugby equivalent of WD40 is, Wales and its followers need an industrial size quantity before that rollercoaster seizes up completely.