Lake's Participation Uncertain After Light Training Session
Wales have not ruled out captain Dewi Lake for this weekend's clash with South Africa, after he partially took part in a light training session on Tuesday. The hooker limped off with a groin injury against Argentina on the weekend, initially casting doubt on his availability against the back-to-back world champions.
Despite Elliot Dee flying into Durban at the start of the week as cover, Lake remains in contention. The Gloucester-bound hooker, who has started every match under head coach Steve Tandy to date, trained lightly on Tuesday and will be assessed in the coming days.
Injury Concerns Across the Squad
Forwards coach Danny Wilson provided an update on the squad's fitness. 'Taine's got a bit of a bump. He's been covering that second-row/back-row situation. Obviously, we picked up a little bit of a bump with Dewi as well. Those are the two key concerns,' Wilson said.
Scarlets forward Taine Plumtree, who was covering both back-row and second-row, is carrying a knock. With Wales' 33-man squad containing just three specialist locks, the coaching staff have called in Gloucester's Freddie Thomas to provide cover in the second-row and back-row this week.
Wilson Optimistic About Lake's Recovery
'Dewi light trained today. That's a real positive. That's ruled him more in than out at the moment. But we've got to see how the next 24 hours go, how he recovers from the light training session today and how he pulls up. We'll do that and make the relevant decisions off the back of it,' Wilson explained.
Ryan Elias and Evan Lloyd are waiting in the wings should Lake miss out. Wilson also addressed the late call-ups for Freddie Thomas and Elliot Dee: 'It's positionally based in terms of bumps and knocks, making sure we get that travel done quickly so it's not a last-minute thing. It's always a delicate one, trying to make decisions on players who you don't quite know about fully yet. But we'll know in the next sort of 24 or 48 hours.'
