Wales captain Dewi Lake has spoken out on the pay dispute between players and Welsh Rugby Union bosses that threatened to overshadow Saturday's Nations Championship opener with Fiji, admitting the situation is far from ideal and could happen again.
Dispute resolved late in preparation
Players had been locked in meetings with WRU officials between training sessions on Wednesday, eventually reaching a resolution on match fees for Welsh players. Despite the agreement, the timing has raised concerns as Wales seek only their fourth Test victory since the start of 2024.
“It’s a tough position that it’s coming into Test week,” said Lake. “Obviously, everybody would have loved these things done sooner, with it being a new tournament. We understand the details behind it and things like it. It’s a shame that it pulled into Test week, but we were able to get it done within plenty of time, and all focus for us now is on the game.”
Warning of recurring issues
Lake acknowledged that such disputes have occurred before and may happen again. “These things have unfortunately happened before. So they might, unfortunately, happen again. Some things are out of your control. But the important thing is that we’ve kept focus on the rugby, and as I said, we were able to hash that out early in the week.”
He emphasised that the team’s main focus remains on the upcoming Test against Fiji, who are ranked two places above 11th-placed Wales in the world rankings. “We’ve been focused on the rugby. I think that’s something that’s obviously crept into the week, but it’s not taken our main focus off being, we’ve got a Test game this weekend against a quality outfit.”
Discipline key against Fiji
Having captained Wales during Fiji’s last visit to Cardiff in 2024, when the visitors won for the first time in the Welsh capital, Lake is well aware of the threat posed by the Pacific Islanders. That match was marred by cards, and Lake stressed that discipline will be crucial.
“I think discipline has been something we’ve worked on massively throughout the last two campaigns. If you go to maybe the last four games of the Six Nations, you’ve seen the drastic change in how we did that. And hopefully, we’ve created that picture, that we are a disciplined team, because we believe that we are.”
Lake added that discipline extends beyond the penalty count to sticking to a game plan when the game becomes chaotic. “I’ve played Fiji and you get sucked into that way of playing, but we understand that’s their game. If we get sucked into that, then, we’re going to struggle in that chaos. But at the same time, we’re rugby players as well. If something is on for us, we’re going to take it, but structure will be massively important for us.”
