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The Wales and Ospreys skipper spoke about he and his team-mates have dealt with the past weeks of uncertainty
Dewi Lake says Wales’ players will bring ‘sheer fight and will’ to their Six Nations opener against England against the backdrop of the Ospreys’ uncertain future.
The last week saw the the Welsh Rugby Union choose Ospreys owners Y11 as their preferred bidder for Cardiff, meaning the Ospreys’ future is now unclear beyond the end of next season. Not for the first time, Wales’ players have been handed an awful hand heading into an international campaign.
But Lake is adamant the team will use the adversity as motivation as he claimed this current group is good enough to win a number of matches in this year’s tournament.
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“It’s been tough,” said Lake about the last seven days. “There’s no hiding from it.
“I think eventually, following the news from the start of the year, we knew it was coming at some point. But that still doesn’t make it any easier to deal with.
“The biggest thing for us is there were still games to play. That’s given us something to focus on beside the news in the background.
“That’s been massive for us, having something to throw ourselves into. With the Six Nations coming up, that’s an even bigger scale to focus on something.
“We know there’s talks going on in the background. Sometimes we’re part of them, sometimes they’re above our pay-grade.
“We are now being kept updated with some of the discussions going on. We’ll see what comes of it.
“For us, it’s only brought us tighter. It’s something everyone has in common, that uncertainty and lack of stability off the field. It’s given us something to bond on and get tighter over. That’s a positive to come out of a negative situation.”
He added: “It’s been that way for some time. It’s not for me to comment on.
“We come into camp and our focus in on the rugby. When you’re focus is heavily on performance, it does feel like water off a duck’s back because it’s at the back of your mind.
“We’ve dealt with things in the past and it’ll be no different this time.”
Lake noted that starting the tournament against England means there’s “probably enough fuel on the fire” anyway, but he believes the current situation will pull the squad tighter.
“It’ll only work in our favour in this campaign,” he added. “We know there’s stuff to deal with, but for now, our focus is on that first game.
“I think the past 12 to 18 months acts as motivation for us. Things haven’t gone our way.”
The Ospreys’ battling performance against the Lions on Friday night in Bridgend, when players put behind a deeply unsettling week behind them with a defiant performance on the pitch, should serve as the template for Wales’ visit to Twickenham.
“There was a lot we did well and some we could have done better,” said Lake. “I think the weather didn’t help our cause.
“From the perspective of just sheer fight and will, that’s what we’d be looking for in Twickenham and we will bring that.”
As for what a realistic target is for Wales, having won just two games in the last four Six Nations tournaments since lifting the title in 2021, Lake insisted there’s enough quality to end a three-year wait for a victory in this competition.
“It’s quite subjective, success,” he said. “It probably looks like winning our games at home.
“It starts there. I’d love to say we’ll win five from five and lift the trophy.
“We wouldn’t be here if that wasn’t the aim. But we’ve also got to be realistic about what we target.
“I’ve no doubt the group is good enough to win. But every group would say the same.
“Two or three from five is the realistic goal for where we’re heading, but five out of five is the ultimate goal.”
