WALES: ‘We came under deserved scrutiny’: Lake says hard talks drove Wales to All Blacks history

Wales captain Dewi Lake says last week’s criticism was deserved, and that it drove his side on to make history.

Wales beat New Zealand 35-28 at the Principality Stadium this afternoon, their first win over the All Blacks since 1953.

A week ago, they were being picked apart after a scrappy 28-21 win over Japan. Lake admitted afterwards there was “no hiding away” from their lineout problems.

The 27-year-old says the criticism was fair, and said: “We came under deserved scrutiny last week, and we have had some hard discussions.”

He added: “I’m so proud of how we responded to the questions that were asked of us.”

Lake believes the hard times have made this group stronger: “I believe that the hard times drive you to get more; it’s taught us that we can be on top or behind, and still find out how to win this game.”

‘This group can be so good’

The former Ospreys hooker said many of the squad had “grown into the shirt after coming in at hard times”. He added: “This group can be so good.”

He wants today to be a starting point: “There’s a lot of pride and trust in our team, and we have to be consistent from now on.”

Asked how the squad would celebrate, Lake joked: “An early night.”

‘The boys have created history’

Head coach Steve Tandy wants his players to enjoy every minute of it.

He said: “The boys have created history; they’ve got to celebrate and enjoy that moment. We want to back up performances, but we have to celebrate these moments.”

Tandy said the result was the reward for months of work behind the scenes.

He said: “The effort that the players and staff have put in over the last 15 months or so, they got what they deserved today. It was an unbelievable performance from the boys.”

He was quick to hand the credit on: “It’s not about me but the players and the supporters.”

‘Over-brave before half-time’

Wales led 21-7, but were pegged back to 21-21 by the break. Tandy admitted his side got a little carried away.

He said: “We spoke about attacking, building the performance, and being brave, and I thought the boys were probably over-brave before half-time, but they had intent to go after the game.”

He said it would have been easy for heads to drop: “When New Zealand were coming back at half-time it would be easy to doubt yourselves.”

Instead, Wales scored twice within eight minutes of the restart. Tandy said: “What I loved about it was that at half-time they wanted to chase down the game again.”

He singled out his captain’s words in the dressing room: “The skipper, the way he spoke at half-time. It was outstanding.”

Tandy also credited the bench, and said that in the closing minutes his side “looked really composed”.

Wales host Australia at the Principality Stadium next Saturday (8.10pm).