Dewi Lake: The Six Nations, a respite for Wales amidst the crisis
Wales captain Dewi Lake has called the Six Nations tournament a “welcome distraction” for Steve Tandy’s team, amid the current uncertainty shaking Welsh rugby. Wales’ preparation for the tournament has been overshadowed by the designation of Ospreys’ owners, Y11 Sport and Media, as the preferred bidder by the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) to take over their domestic rival, Cardiff, which entered administration in April 2025. If the agreement is finalized, Ospreys and Cardiff will remain separate teams, but will be owned by the same organization. However, the future looks bleak for Ospreys, who have only received playing guarantees until the end of the 2026-27 season, and with the WRU determined to reduce the number of men’s professional regions from four to three. Lake has chosen to leave Ospreys to join Gloucester at the end of the season, but the 26-year-old hooker is one of seven players from the Swansea-based region who are part of the Wales team that will start their Six Nations campaign away from home against England on February 7.
“It’s probably a welcome distraction, being able to indulge in the matches or watch the opposition and do your analysis for the weekend. Having the opportunity to jump onto the field and represent your country in one of the best competitions in the world will only take your mind off the things that happen off the field. It’s also great fire fuel for us. What’s happening off the field affects everyone in our group. Something like that can only unite your group, make them more united.”“Obviously, it’s a difficult situation for everyone to find out during the week [about the acquisition]”, Lake told reporters at the Guinness Six Nations launch in Edinburgh.
Dewi Lake
Fans protested against WRU and Y11’s plans at Ospreys and Cardiff’s United Rugby Championship matches over the weekend.
Both sets of fans turned on their phones to express their opposition to the proposed acquisition and Ospreys coach Mark Jones applauded the fans of his region for “showing solidarity”. When asked about the difficulty of his role as captain in the Six Nations, Lake said: “You don’t really need much management in terms of how the guys deal with things like this, because it’s something very personal.” It’s instability, the guys will have families and deal with things differently. The only thing I’ll do is make sure everyone is focused at game time. The group and the atmosphere we’ve built will take care of themselves, I don’t think there will be too much of a hangover.” Coach Tandy praised his players’ attitude as Wales tries to recover from two consecutive winless Six Nations. “The guys have been incredible. Other things were happening in the fall as well, but, for me, it’s been about talking to the players and being honest with them,” said Tandy. “If you have something to share, instead of it being an elephant in the room and nobody talking about it, we encourage you to speak up.”
