Dewi Lake opens up on his incredible journey from unpaid prospect to Wales captain – as Warren Gatland’s side bid to snap nine-match losing streak against Fiji this weekend

Dewi Lake has always had Welsh rugby in his blood, but his journey to captaining his country has not been entirely easy.

“When I first signed for the Ospreys as a hooker, I was only a development player, so my first few years were unpaid,” says Lake Mailsport before him he led Warren Gatland’s side in three crucial November tests. ‘I worked as an apprentice at the Welsh Rugby Union where you were trained to play a role in their development programme.

‘I took it on to make some money. I coached kids and did my coaching and refereeing courses when I was 18. I had a technical contract with the Ospreys, but there was no money involved. I took it because I knew I would work hard enough to make it work.

“It’s crazy to think about that now. I told myself at the time that I would take this opportunity. And I did. Sometimes, when it comes to contract negotiations, I have to remind myself that my first two years were unpaid. It wasn’t until I was 21 and captain of Wales Under-20 that I got a paid contract with the Ospreys.

“When Wales defeated New Zealand Under-20s at the Junior World Cup in 2019, I still wasn’t getting paid because I was developing as a hooker.

‘You in the media say that I am still developing!’

Captaining Wales at both junior and senior level, Lake’s story is a reminder that very few sporting journeys are linear. There are ups and downs, setbacks to navigate.

Lake, 25, has done just that, and with aplomb, too. Five years after not earning a penny from his rugby career, he is now the de facto skipper of Wales head coach Gatland.

He filled the role alongside fellow newcomer Jac Morgan at last year’s World Cup, but was the standalone leader in Australia in the summer. He impressed Gatland in July with his calm and no-nonsense leadership. Lake leads more by action than by word. There are certain similarities between him and Sam Warburton.

Sunday’s match against Fiji will be the first time Lake has captained Wales in Cardiff. Wales desperately need to return to winning ways after a run of nine consecutive Test losses.

However, had there not been a growth spurt, Lake could very well have been lost to rugby. “Sports were always part of my journey,” he says.

‘I was two when I started gymnastics with my mother in Leuven, very young! I was five when I was asked to take part in an elite training program in Swansea. I was decent when I was younger, I think it’s because I was smaller then! We had 20 hour training weeks, which is a lot when you’re five! I mainly focused on floor and vault. I could never do the pommel horse!

‘I have a Welsh cap in a discipline called double mini-trampoline. As I got older, things became much more difficult. When I weighed 70 or 80 kilos, I was still competing with 40-year-old guys. It was much easier for them to do things than for me! I had to work twice as hard to do the same things as them and that was the point where rugby started to take over.

‘When I was 14 or 15, I stopped gymnastics completely. The rugby body was in and the gymnastics body was out!

Lake’s rugby career began at the age of seven with Valley Ravens. His father David played for Ogmore Vale and Treorchy while working as a firefighter.

“We always looked at Wales, especially in the Six Nations,” says Lake. “I remember watching games at home and at the club after Dad had played. It’s always been a big part of my life.

‘The match I remember most is the 30-3 win over England in 2013. I was 12, old enough to watch and know what was going on. I remember Alex Cuthbert scoring in the corner. ‘It was an incredible match for Welsh rugby. Martyn Williams was always my favorite player growing up. I was a Cardiff fan… which I don’t get to say very often these days now that I’m at the Ospreys! Maybe you can leave that out… Then it was Sam after Martyn… Cardiff again!’

Lake’s choice of rugby heroes makes sense as he started his career as an ambitious back-row forward. Now the mud and bullets of the scrum are his domain.

Lake is an aggressive, action-oriented hooker with an eye for the try-line. In 2022, he announced his approach of never taking a step back by standing up to South Africa’s Malcolm Marx.

With Lake, Morgan and Dafydd Jenkins – who will be injured this autumn – Gatland believes he has three young men around whom he can build the core of the future Wales.

It’s hard to escape the fact that Fiji is a must-win encounter for them. However, Wales have been helped by the return of experienced players such as Will Rowlands, Gareth Anscombe, Adam Beard and Tomos Williams after a spell away from international competition.

“The captaincy is something I’ve always dreamed of, but I’ve been through some tough times and setbacks,” Lake said. ‘I thought it might happen one day, but it was an incredible experience for me. I still don’t think it has sunk in!

‘It might be something I realize more about after my career is over. I am constantly learning how to lead naturally and how much to talk.

‘Winning is the most important part of professional sports. Everyone is judged on that, and rightly so. You can play well, but if you lose, none of that matters.

‘This autumn is an exciting, but also nervous time, because we know that the results for us are enormous. We want to show what we started showing in the summer.

‘It’s time to show that again, but with us on the right side of the scoreboard. The experience that comes back is huge for us because those guys know how to win.

“They were part of Welsh teams that were winning more and more points. We don’t have many guys who know how to watch matches at international level yet.

‘We haven’t had such a winning buzz around us since the World Cup quarter-final. It’s important that we get that back, not only for the fans and the people at home, but also for us.

“All you need is one or two wins and you’ll start to believe in yourself a little more. It will be a new experience for me to be captain in Cardiff.

“Hopefully the Principality Stadium will bounce back. I’m sure it will be an incredible feeling. But we have to create that atmosphere for the fans. That’s a big job for us.’

Wales captain Dewi Lake is an ambassador for Oxen Sports and wears the OXEN Raptors