Rather than try to put the heat on the Wallabies in the lead-up to this weekend’s Test, Wales captain Dewi Lake admits “the pressure is on all of us” in the clash against Australia that a proud rugby nation is desperate not to lose.
Defeat against the Wallabies on Sunday (Monday AEDT) would condemn Wales to a record 11th successive Test match defeat following a first home loss at Fiji’s hands last weekend.
They have not won since beating 2023 World Cup pool stage opponents Georgia, and now host an Australia side fresh from a scintillating victory over England.
Warren Gatland has faced questions about his future this week, having overseen just six wins in 22 Tests since returning for a second stint as Wales head coach.
And with world champions South Africa looming on November 23 – then a Six Nations opener against France in Paris early next year – life is not about to get any easier.
“There is always an edge around camp, boys fighting for places, for every inch,” Lake said.
“Nothing has changed from our work from last week to this. We were well in the Fiji game apart from the errors we made ourselves. I think we did enough to win the game.
“Gats (Gatland) isn’t on the field is he? The coaches give us the best platform to go and perform, and we should have comfortably won that game.
“The pressure is on all of us as a group when we are on a losing run like we are. We are all feeling it.
“Of course, it hurts. We don’t go out to lose. But at some point we need to flip that.
Warren Gatland. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)
“Teams have gone on losing runs before. In 2002/03 Wales went on the same run, and then 18 months later won a grand slam.
“We need to finish off those opportunities when we get them and make teams work harder for their points against us.”
Wales have lost nine of the last 11 Tests against Australia in Cardiff, while they suffered a 2-0 Test series defeat at the Wallabies’ hands in Sydney and Melbourne this year.
Both of those encounters were close, though, and Lake added: “Teams aren’t battering us. We are one score away from being on the right side of the result.
“We know we are a good enough team to get results.”
© AAP
