“Nervous? He didn’t seem a bit nervous. He just got stuck in. You could see he would be one for the future.”
So says former Skewen coach Richard Ball, recalling the day Dewi Lake made his debut for the club in a Welsh Championship derby with Trebanos.
Coincidentally, the match was the then 17-year-old’s first outing at hooker after his conversion from blindside flanker. It was a keenly fought affair, not without what the late Bill McClaren might have called ‘a bit of argy-bargy’ had the great man been behind the mic that day.
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Lake has previously spoken of “a few head butts and punches flying around to begin with”.
A baptism of fire, then, for the young lad lining up with a No. 2 on his back.
But it was obvious he had something about him. “You could tell he was destined," says Ball.
"It was his attitude. He was willing to listen, for a start. A lot of kids of that age might not be bothered, but Dewi took things on board and you could see he wanted to improve.
“He was quiet but fitted in well.
“Grounded? God, yeah. That’s one of the reasons he’s succeeded. You have some people who think they’re above everyone else but when it comes down to it they’re often not as good as they think. Dewi was different, very humble and keen to go about his business. He was a good kid.”
Lake recalled his introduction to front-row life this week at an Ospreys’ press call, saying of the clash between Skewen and Trebanos: “There was a nice rivalry there.
"It was a local derby, with a few punches being thrown in the scrums. It was a nice snap to reality — ‘this is what I’m in for’.
“But Skewen was a great time for me. I had five or six games up there and they’re a great group of lads. It did a lot for me.”
Much has happened to Lake since those days in 2017. He has banged in close on 30 appearances for the Ospreys and won eight caps for Wales, along the way earning admiration for the immense power he brings to his performances.
When the 6ft 1in, 17st 4lb player carries, opponents brace themselves; when he tackles, those on the wrong end tend to stay hit; when he contests ball at the breakdown, there's a fair chance he'll achieve a turnover. As exciting prospects go, then, he's the real deal. You can read here about the bold prediction made about Lake in 2019.
Switching from the back-row to the front of the bus has been key.
Of course, there remain elements of his game he needs to work on, such as his throwing, but the strides he has made over five years have been huge.
“Moving to hooker has got me to where I am and I’ll forever be grateful to the people who have put work into me over the years,” he says.
“I don’t think I’d be in the position I am if I’d stuck to the back row. You could argue hard work might have got me there, but I don’t have the height, really, and I can’t jump; I think I’d be tough to lift in the lineout. So there are no regrets about switching at all.”
His head coach at the Ospreys, Toby Booth, commented recently about Lake’s progression over the past year. The player himself has been pleased to have made such advances in his game, as well, though he still feels he has scope to improve.
“I can’t say I’m not happy with being able to break into that Welsh team, but, at the same time I don’t think you can ever be comfortable," he says.
"I’m not the finished article and I don’t think anyone ever is.
"There’s always room to progress and there’s always work to do. Of course I’m happy with the progression I am making, but for me it’s about continuing it, being better again and not getting too comfortable.”
We'll call that the right way for a young player to go about his business.
Booth has helped him a lot at the Ospreys, along with first-team coach Duncan Jones. Then there’s Jonathan Humphreys with Wales, and, previously, ex-Wales international Paul James. All ex-front rowers, all up to speed on their craft.
“They’ve been in the position that I’m in now and so can hand down experiences and little tips and tricks to me.” said Lake. “They’re great blokes in general, too, easy to chat to.
“If I feel there’s anything I want to ask, they’re always there, especially at the start with Duncs. He’s been with me from the beginning of my transition to hooker and the relationship we have has been massive.
“Humph has been good to help out with the hooker side of things, too, while there’s also the coaching I’ve received in general — Paul James when I was up in Skewen, Hugh Gustafson at Swansea. Everyone plays a part.”
There is a particular nod in the direction of James: “He was brilliant," says Lake. "He was forwards coach at the time but still playing for the Ospreys, so it was time out of his nights on Tuesdays and Thursdays. He was a brilliant coach who really knows his stuff. It was more around the mindset of being in the front row that he taught me, what it was like and what it took to be up there.”
Competition also drives Lake on — of course it does. On the Wales front, there are at least seven players vying for three squad place for the autumn Tests, but Lake insists he can’t look beyond the Ospreys, where he is up against Scott Baldwin, Sam Parry and Elvis Taione for the starting shirt.
So far this term, Baldwin has been starting. “He’s been playing brilliantly and not really put a foot wrong,” says Lake. “I’ve still been involved, and trying to make an impact off the bench is a big part of the game now. When you are called upon in the 60th minute to do a job you have to be ready to do it.
“All four of us are always battling, but at the end of the day we’re all one team on the Saturday. If something goes wrong or goes right, we congratulate each other or try to help.
"The competition’s there — I want to start, Baldwin does, Sam does and so does Elvis. But we’re always rooting for each other and we are all one team here. That’s healthy competition. We all want to play but we all drive each other on.”
In the summer, Lake further added to his experience by facing arguably the top hooker in the world in South Africa’s Malcolm Marx. To the Welsh youngster’s credit, he didn’t retreat a single millimetre against the Springbok. A memorable picture showed Marx pointing at Lake and Tommy Reffell, whose smiles didn’t suggest they were in any way awed by what was unfolding. That certainly isn’t the way Lake operates.
“I don’t think you ever go into a game thinking ‘he’s the best, what am I coming up against?’” he says.
“For me, it was about what I needed to do off the bench.
“Of course, there’s always that respect for the opposition. I didn't think ‘I don’t really care who he is’. I knew who he was.
“But it was more about what I needed to do rather than worrying about what he might do. The game can get away from you if you adopt the second way of thinking.
“There was a lot of focus on us as a team, just going out there and not worrying about what they were going to throw at us. We were going to be the ones to throw punches at them.
“But we [Marx and Lake] spoke later. We went into each other’s changing rooms and chatted after all three games. It was brilliant to talk to him and pick his brains.”
This weekend, Lake is due to start in the Ospreys’ testing BKT United Rugby Championship clash with Ulster at the Kingspan Stadium. The Welsh side returned to form last time out, beating Glasgow Warriors 32-17 in Swansea.
Visits to Belfast are always testing, but Lake will be up for the challenge.
Because the kid who didn’t flinch on his hooking debut in that stormy Welsh derby half a decade ago is made of the right stuff.
That much has long been evident.
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