Wales took the win in the Nations Championship, but captain Dewi Lake says the performance against Japan was nowhere near good enough.
Wales got the result they needed against Japan, but their captain isn't celebrating. Dewi Lake has admitted his side fell short of their own standards in a 28-21 Nations Championship victory.
The scoreline shows a win, but Lake's verdict was blunt: Wales let themselves down. A seven-point margin against a Japan side that kept pushing says plenty about how tight this contest stayed, and Lake knows a more clinical team would have made it far more comfortable.
That honesty is what you want from a skipper. Taking the points matters in a competition like this, but Lake is looking past the table and focusing on the work still to be done. Wales will need to sharpen up quickly if they want to be taken seriously as the tournament goes on.
For now, it's a win in the bag and a long list of fixes to tackle. Lake has set the tone, and the next challenge will show whether Wales can turn his words into a better performance.
