"It's a Shame"- Dewi Lake Speaks Out Following Resolving Pay Dispute with WRU

Friday, 03 July 2026 at 17:00

byHarry Tovey

Cardiff City Stadium was bathed in sunshine as Wales went through their final preparations ahead of facing Fiji in the Nations Championship on Saturday (14:10).

For Wales’ captain Dewi Lake, it was the first time that he had talked about the pay dispute between players and the Welsh Rugby Union, which put this contest against the Fijians into doubt.

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Head coach Steve Tandy stated in his pre-match press conference that there will not be any ‘hangover’ from the dispute, following Lake and many other senior players having to balance meetings with the WRU and training on Wednesday.

Despite an agreement being reached, the 27-year-old stated his disappointment that the situation was far from ideal, with days to go until their opening Test of the summer.

“It’s a tough position that it’s coming into Test week,” Lake said.

“Obviously, everybody would have loved these things done sooner, with it being a new tournament.

“We have been focused on the rugby. 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 have kept focus on the rugby, and as I said, we were able to hash that out early in the week.

“We understand the details behind it and things like that. 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.”

Wales head coach Tandy has made six changes to his side that faced the Barbarians in an uncapped fixture at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham, where his side started their summer campaign with a 33-31 victory.

Now, with the English- and French-based players back available due to the Baa-Baas falling outside of the designated international window. Louis Rees-Zammit, Rhys Carré, Adam Beard, and Saracens-bound Tomos Williams are all named in the starting XV.

Cardiff duo Alex Mann and Josh Adams make their return, following being rested for the contest against the invitational side, while the versatile Taine Plumtree drops onto the bench as second-row cover.

Also selected on the bench is uncapped Ospreys player Ben Warren, who can win his first cap tomorrow afternoon. The last time Wales faced Fiji in Cardiff during the 2024 autumn internationals, the Pacific Islanders claimed a historical first-ever victory on Welsh soil.

“Look at that backline; there are Test match animals across every position in that squad now,” said Lake on the challenges of facing Fiji in the opening game of the inaugural competition.

“We understand the threat they hold. Just have to look at the autumn (in 2024), where we lost in the Principality. There are really no easy games in Test match rugby anymore, especially not in this competition, being in the top twelve teams in the world.

“Look, we know what to expect from Fiji, but for us it’s about focusing on us as well. That’s probably rained through throughout the last two campaigns.

“We spoke about it a lot during the Six Nations as well, and that part of us hasn’t changed.

Against the Barbarians last weekend, the hooker played his first game since Wales put aside Italy in the Six Nations 31-17.

Lake was a major doubt for the Nations Championship, as he did not feature for the Ospreys for the remainder of the United Rugby Championship (URC) ahead of heading to Gloucester alongside Jac Morgan next season.

But after recovering from shoulder surgery, Lake has returned to full fitness and was one of Wales’ top performers in south-west London last weekend. “Yeah, 100%, it felt good to get back out there on the field, lacing the boots up again”, continued Lake.

“There’s only so much running and training that you can do by yourself once you get the bangs, the knocks, the speed of Test match rugby; it's a lot different to running on your own.

“It was important for me, but also for a couple of boys who hadn’t put the jersey on before, hadn’t put it on for a long time, kinda shake the cobwebs off if you like and get back into the flow of things.

Following their match against Fiji, 11 miles from their training base in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales will then travel to face Argentina in San Juan next Saturday and South Africa in Durban seven days later.

Despite still-off-field politics remaining in Welsh rugby, for the first time since the 2023 Rugby World Cup, Wales head into a campaign on the back of back-to-back wins, but Lake also heads to a stadium, in particular, that he is looking forward to playing at for the first time for Wales.

“We are all massively excited to play here,” said Lake, a Cardiff City supporter who also supports West Ham.

“We have got a couple of Cardiff City fans in the group, so I know they are really excited. A couple of Swansea City fans not so much.

“But what an amazing thing for us to be able to do to come next door, really to our home stadium, and have an away game that’s just down the road from us. It’s class.”