Lake looking to bounce back for Ospreys and Wales

Dewi Lake made his Ospreys debut in 2018

Dewi Lake says it has been "a joy to be back on the field" despite being on the wrong end of two heavy Ospreys defeats since returning from injury.

The Wales hooker endured a three-month lay-off after rupturing his hamstring prior to this year's Six Nations.

"It’s been a tough year injury-wise," said Lake, "but it is part and parcel of the game.

"It’s about coming back fit and strong and getting back into the swing of things."

Lake returned to action in South Africa, where Ospreys were defeated 61-24 by Bulls, and then featured in the 61-14 loss in Leinster last weekend.

The results have severely dented Ospreys' hopes of finishing in the United Rugby Championship (URC) top eight and making the play-offs.

They must now win their remaining two games, starting with the Welsh derby against Dragons on Saturday, and hope other results go their way.

Their final regular-season game is on 1 June at the Principality Stadium against Cardiff.

Dragons have not beaten Ospreys in Swansea since 2010, but Lake says they are not underestimating their opposition.

"For us it’s about taking it one game at a time," said Lake, 24.

"We have already lost to the Dragons once this season at Rodney Parade, so our focus is solely on that game this week and then Cardiff the following week.

"Whatever will be, will be in terms of play-offs.

"We’ve been quite strong at home this year, I don’t think many teams have come to Swansea.com [Stadium] and turned us over."

Wales hopes

Lake was Wales' co-captain with Ospreys team-mate Jac Morgan for the 2023 Rugby World Cup.

But he says Wales' summer tour is at the back of his mind with all focus on finishing the season strongly with Ospreys.

Wales take on world champions South Africa at Twickenham on 22 June before two Tests against Australia, in Sydney on 6 July and in Melbourne seven days later.

Lake said it was "definitely a goal" to feature for Wales this summer.

But he added: "I’ve got to play well in this [Ospreys] jersey first and earn the right to hopefully wear the Welsh jersey again."

Lake's injury, suffered in Ospreys' Champions Cup win at Leicester Tigers in January, ruled him out of Wales' woeful 2024 Six Nations campaign.

Warren Gatland's side lost all five matches and picked up the Wooden Spoon for the first time in 21 years.

"It was obviously tough as a supporter and a fan, but I’m sure it was a lot tougher for the boys involved," Lake said.

"You know the hard work they would have put in and a couple of results unfortunately going the other way, but like I said, with [Ospreys'] couple of losses, it’s part of the game sometimes.

"You can’t win them all, there’s going to be losses, it’s how you bounce back."