mens
nations-championship
Skipper Dewi Lake admits Wales will struggle to compete with Australia and New Zealand if they repeat parts of their performance against Japan.
Wales scored a 28-21 bonus point against Eddie Jones’ Brave Blossoms as their own on Saturday Nations Championship the campaign continued in Cardiff.
But the Wales pack were often at the back and Steve Tandy’s side held on for victory in the closing moments as Japan finished strong.
Gloucester hooker Lake said: “There were big parts of that game where we let ourselves down.
“Going into camp, we said we were going to do things that we probably didn’t do today. That’s disappointing for us.
“If you look at the next two test matches, we did things today that weren’t good enough to compete in those matches.
“But this is a group that wants to grow and they’re going to challenge each other. We’re going to do it.”
Wales’ line-up in particular was in disarray as the hosts coughed up possession six times on their own throw.
Those issues overshadowed some excellent play in attack, which saw Josh Adams score twice and winger Louis Rees-Zammit once.
Rees-Zammit excelled with five line breaks and Bristol Letac was declared the player of the match after overcoming 13 defenders and scoring 121 meters.
“We have to be better in that area,” Lake said of the line.
“When we did it, I thought we got a lot of joy out of it, but we wish we had gone to that drive more often.
“You have to thank Japan in that area for the defense work they’re doing.
“They’re number one in the world for a reason in that area, but we have to look at ourselves first – whether it’s tackling, line movement or our speed.
“We have to be more ruthless about how much we want to win the ball at line time. We have dangerous backs and if we secure the ball there, they will do damage.”
Lake’s front-row colleague Archie Griffin had a special reason to celebrate with his first Test.
The Bath the stalwart prop crossed in the fourth minute after Rees-Zammit burst through the Japanese defence.
Griffin said: “It was good to get the crowd going. It opened up a bit of space for me – a yard of beer.
“You’ve always got to be happy when you get a bonus point, but there’s a lot to go on over the next three weeks.
“I think there’s a lot more to come. We’re talking about bonding as a team in training and we’ve got to make sure we’re good at it.”
