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'It is not something you ever want to happen' - Wales captain Dewi Lake

By PA
Dewi Lake of Wales addresses the crowd after the International Test Match between Australia Wallabies and Wales at AAMI Park on July 13, 2024 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Morgan Hancock/Getty Images)

Dewi Lake has urged Wales to “turn over a new leaf” when they begin their Autumn Nations Series campaign against Fiji on Sunday.

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The Wales captain leads a team desperate to avoid suffering a record-equalling 10th successive Test defeat that would match an all-time low of 2002 and 2003.

It is approaching 400 days since Wales last posted a Test triumph – a 43-19 World Cup pool-stage victory over Georgia – since then they have finished bottom of the Six Nations without a win and also lost to Australia (twice), South Africa and Argentina.

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Referee Karl Dickson explains how World Rugby referees are now focusing on players giving access to a 50/50 contest under the high ball.

“We are all massively motivated to turn things around, having been involved in a nine-game losing streak,” Lake said.

“It is not something you ever want to happen. Now, it’s our job to change it and get back on to the right side of the results.

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“We are back in Cardiff, back in front of a home crowd, and we need to turn over a new leaf with this group. We have to set the record straight, put the losses behind us and start building momentum into the Six Nations.”

Wales head coach Warren Gatland welcomes back more than 230 caps’ worth of experience – Gareth Anscombe, Tomos Williams, Will Rowlands, Adam Beard and Aaron Wainwright – that he did not have for a second Test defeat against Australia in July.

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And that collective input could prove crucial in terms of driving a team that also features five players with single-figure caps, plus a Test debutant in Scarlets wing Blair Murray.

Fiji are dangerous opponents, but Wales have found a way to get past them in 12 of the countries’ 14 previous meetings, including an epic 2023 World Cup clash that easily ranked among the tournament’s best games.

“We have all put pressure on ourselves coming into this campaign – and there is external pressure as well – but we are excited about the challenge ahead,” Lake added.

“There has been a bit of a grace period around results, the experience of the players and getting to grips with international rugby. But that has gone now, given the experience we now have in this group, and it is all about results.

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“We have just got to be clinical. In the summer Tests (against Australia) we had to work really hard to score our tries and probably gave away a few soft ones.

“On the other side of the coin, Australia didn’t have to work too hard for their points. We conceded six points from kick-offs after we had just scored tries.

“We know Fiji are a dangerous outfit. The last time we faced them was at the World Cup and it came down to the 82nd minute.

“Everyone was on the edge of their seats watching that, and we know what they are going to bring and the firepower they have got coming back into their side.

“We are fully aware of their dangers and how good they are, but we have to focus on ourselves and just be clinical.

“We would love to put on an incredible game, and I am sure it will be against Fiji because that is the brand of rugby they play.

Dewi Lake
Dewi Lake’s powerful displays and leadership were a bright spot for Wales in defeat (Photo Martin Keep/AFP via Getty Images)

“But in years to come when you look back on a game you often don’t remember what a game looked like or what the scoreboard said. If it says 6-3 when we look back, then we will be happy.”

The key man for Wales could be Cardiff back Ben Thomas, who impressed at fly-half against Australia but now fills the inside centre role and carries outstanding regional form with him.

Gatland said: “I think he has got a good balance to his game. He is not afraid to carry the ball to the line and attack inside shoulders.

“The pleasing thing about him is he looks like he is a player who has time on the ball. That definitely helps his decisions and being able to shift the ball.”

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Watch the highly acclaimed five-part documentary Chasing the Sun 2, chronicling the journey of the Springboks as they strive to successfully defend the Rugby World Cup, free on RugbyPass TV (*unavailable in Africa)

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J
JW 1 hour ago
'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

Ok, managed to read the full article..

... New Zealand’s has only 14 and the professional season is all over within four months. In France, club governance is the responsibility of an independent organisation [the Ligue Nationale de Rugby or LNR] which is entirely separate from the host union [the Fédération Française de Rugby or FFR]. Down south New Zealand Rugby runs the provincial and the national game.

That is the National Provincial Championship, a competition of 14 representative union based teams run through the SH international window and only semi professional (paid only during it's running). It is run by NZR and goes for two and a half months.


Super Rugby is a competition involving 12 fully professional teams, of which 5 are of New Zealand eligibility, and another joint administered team of Pacific Island eligibility, with NZR involvement. It was a 18 week competition this year, so involved (randomly chosen I believe) extra return fixtures (2 or 3 home and away derbys), and is run by Super Rugby Pacific's own independent Board (or organisation). The teams may or may not be independently run and owned (note, this does not necessarily mean what you think of as 'privately owned').


LNR was setup by FFR and the French Government to administer the professional game in France. In New Zealand, the Players Association and Super Rugby franchises agreed last month to not setup their own governance structure for professional rugby and re-aligned themselves with New Zealand Rugby. They had been proposing to do something like the English model, I'm not sure how closely that would have been aligned to the French system but it did not sound like it would have French union executive representation on it like the LNR does.

In the shaky isles the professional pyramid tapers to a point with the almighty All Blacks. In France the feeling for country is no more important than the sense of fierce local identity spawned at myriad clubs concentrated in the southwest. Progress is achieved by a nonchalant shrug and the wide sweep of nuanced negotiation, rather than driven from the top by a single intense focus.

Yes, it is pretty much a 'representative' selection system at every level, but these union's are having to fight for their existence against the regime that is NZR, and are currently going through their own battle, just as France has recently as I understand it. A single focus, ala the French game, might not be the best outcome for rugby as a whole.


For pure theatre, it is a wonderful article so far. I prefer 'Ntamack New Zealand 2022' though.

The young Crusader still struggles to solve the puzzle posed by the shorter, more compact tight-heads at this level but he had no problem at all with Colombe.

It was interesting to listen to Manny during an interview on Maul or Nothing, he citied that after a bit of banter with the All Black's he no longer wanted one of their jersey's after the game. One of those talks was an eye to eye chat with Tamaiti Williams, there appear to be nothing between the lock and prop, just a lot of give and take. I thought TW angled in and caused Taylor to pop a few times, and that NZ were lucky to be rewarded.

f you have a forward of 6ft 8ins and 145kg, and he is not at all disturbed by a dysfunctional set-piece, you are in business.

He talked about the clarity of the leadership that helped alleviate any need for anxiety at the predicaments unfolding before him. The same cannot be said for New Zealand when they had 5 minutes left to retrieve a match winning penalty, I don't believe. Did the team in black have much of a plan at any point in the game? I don't really call an autonomous 10 vehicle they had as innovative. I think Razor needs to go back to the dealer and get a new game driver on that one.

Vaa’i is no match for his power on the ground. Even in reverse, Meafou is like a tractor motoring backwards in low gear, trampling all in its path.

Vaa'i actually stops him in his tracks. He gets what could have been a dubious 'tackle' on him?

A high-level offence will often try to identify and exploit big forwards who can be slower to reload, and therefore vulnerable to two quick plays run at them consecutively.

Yes he was just standing on his haunches wasn't he? He mentioned that in the interview, saying that not only did you just get up and back into the line to find the opposition was already set and running at you they also hit harder than anything he'd experienced in the Top 14. He was referring to New Zealands ultra-physical, burst-based Super style of course, which he was more than a bit surprised about. I don't blame him for being caught out.


He still sent the obstruction back to the repair yard though!

What wouldn’t the New Zealand rugby public give to see the likes of Mauvaka and Meafou up front..

Common now Nick, don't go there! Meafou showed his Toulouse shirt and promptly got his citizenship, New Zealand can't have him, surely?!?


As I have said before with these subjects, really enjoy your enthusiasm for their contribution on the field and I'd love to see more of their shapes running out for Vern Cotter and the like styled teams.

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