EDINBURGH, Scotland (AP) — After Wales rugby players canceled their threat of strike action, national captain Dewi Lake called the upcoming Six Nations “a welcome distraction.”
The Welsh players’ association last week gave the Wales Rugby Union a deadline of Feb. 6 — the day before Wales plays its Six Nations opener against England — to clarify the future of the four men’s regional sides.
The WRU wants to cut one team amid protests from supporters and stakeholders.
At the weekend the WRU assured that all four regions will continue playing through the end of the 2026-27 season. That certainty for 12 more months has satisfied the players’ body. But the region most at risk of the axe is Swansea-based Ospreys, which features seven of the Wales squad including Lake.
“What’s going on off-field affects everyone in our group,” Lake said at the Six Nations launch on Monday in Edinburgh. “Something like that can only rally your group, make you tighter together. It’s massive fuel for the fire for us.”
He is leaving Ospreys at the end of the season for England’s Gloucester, and called the Six Nations “quite a welcome distraction, having the ability to throw yourself into matches or watch the opposition and doing your analysis for the weekend.
“Having the opportunity to step on the field and represent your country in one of the best competitions in the world is only going to take your mind away from things happening off the field.”
Wales has also not won a Six Nations match since March 2023 and Lake was asked how difficult being captain would be.
“There’s not much managing needed really in terms of how boys deal with things like this (the fight by the regions not to be cut) because it’s quite personal,” he said. “It’s instability, boys will have families and deal with things differently. The only thing I will deal with is that come game time everyone is switched on.”
The Six Nations begins on Feb. 5 with titleholder France hosting Ireland.
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AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby
The Associated Press
