Dewi Lake makes forthright revelation on Wales captaincy role

After captaining Wales during their recent tour of Australia, Ospreys hooker Dewi Lake is eager to hold onto the leadership position in the international arena.

Although Wales suffered a 2-0 series defeat against the Wallabies, Lake gave a good account of himself after taking over the captaincy from young second-row Dafydd Jenkins, who was Wales’ skipper during the 2024 Six Nations campaign.

Apart from the aforementioned duo, loose forward Jac Morgan, who was Wales‘ co-captain alongside Lake during the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France, is also back to full fitness after missing the Six Nations due to a knee injury.

Morgan named as the Ospreys’ new skipper

Lake and Morgan are club-mates at the Ospreys and the back-rower has been named as the Welsh region’s new permanent captain. However, Lake made no secret of his ambition to continue in his role as Wales’ skipper for their November Tests against Fiji, Australia and South Africa.

“I’d love to continue, I’d never turn it down,” the 25-year-old told the BBC. “It’s not my decision to make. There’s plenty of good leaders in that team and plenty to come back as well.

“If it’s there, I’m never going to turn it down but it could be anyone.”

During last year’s World Cup, Morgan was Wales head coach Warren Gatland‘s first-choice captain for the important pool games against Fiji and Australia as well as the quarter-final loss to Argentina, while Lake skippered the side against Portugal and Georgia.

The hooker admits that he was not fully fit at World Cup and that affected his form at the global showpiece.

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“I found out a lot about myself in that World Cup and about that leadership role in general,” said Lake.

Did not nail down a starting position

“It’s tough because I had not nailed myself down to be starting.

“I missed that first game against Fiji off the back of injury and didn’t play my best rugby against Portugal, so I didn’t get back in the team for Australia.

“It’s tough to feel like you’ve got to be a leader or captain of a team where you’re not actually really nailed down as a starter or a bench player.

“So I probably didn’t put my best foot forward in that role at the World Cup.

“It was a tough experience but the second time around I felt much better, a lot more comfortable, got on with it, played my game and let things take care of themselves.

“In the summer I felt like I found my feet, was consistent in my role and I just loved doing it.”

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