Dewi Lake: 'It’s a shame that it pulled into Test week'

Captain Dewi Lake admits it was a “shame” the Wales pay dispute dragged into their Test week with Fiji.

The issue over match fees was only settled on Wednesday following talks between the Welsh Rugby Union and the Welsh Rugby Players’ Association at the players’ base in the Vale of Glamorgan.

The resolution allowed Saturday’s Nations Championship opener against Fiji at Cardiff City Stadium to go ahead as planned.

“It’s a tough position that it’s come into Test week,” said Lake, the first Wales player to speak about the matter.

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

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“We understand the details behind it, but 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.”

Despite the matter being resolved around 70 hours before the Fiji game kicks off, the matter has proved another embarrassing episode for the WRU.

Players threatened strike action in February 2023 just days before a Six Nations game against England in Cardiff, leading to then Wales captain Ken Owen describing Welsh rugby as a “laughing stock”.

Lake said: “These things have unfortunately happened before and 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.”

Wales are officially the away side as World Rugby sanctioned Fiji’s request to play their Nations Championship home games outside the country to help them financially.

Fiji – who are ninth in the world rankings and two places higher than Wales – have won only two of the 15 meetings between the countries with one draw.

But the Pacific Islanders claimed their only ever win in Wales on their last visit to Cardiff at Principality Stadium in November 2024.

Lake said: “Look at that (Fiji) back line. There’s Test match animals across every position in that squad now.

“We understand the threat they hold and we know what to expect from them.

“Discipline has been something we’ve worked on massively throughout the last two campaigns, but it speaks to more than just the penalty count.

“It’s about sticking to a game plan when the game can get chaotic.

“I’ve played against Fiji, and if you get sucked into that way of playing we’re going to struggle in the chaos.”

After Fiji, Wales head to Argentina and South Africa on successive weekends in the inaugural Nations Championship, with the rest of the competition to be played in November.