The 24-year-old Cardiff Blues prop featured in every game in the Far East as his team finished fourth on the biggest stage. Since then he has been a regular in the Test environment under new head coach Wayne Pivac having started three straight games against the Barbarians, Italy and Ireland.
Lewis had been forced to settle for a spot on the bench in 14 of his previous 15 caps before Wales began their 2020 Guinness Six Nations campaign with a comprehensive triumph over Italy.
Lewis also started Wales’ 24-14 defeat by Ireland in Dublin and while he believes his World Cup experiences last autumn have made him feel at home in the Test arena, it was his return from Japan which made his life away from rugby change for the better with the arrival of a four-legged friend. “I’ve bought a dog. I’ve called her Bella the Beagle,” Lewis said.
“I was only home from Japan for three days and I thought ‘I need a dog’. I found her online at about eight o’clock in the evening and drove an hour and a half straight to west Wales that night.
“I drove home without food. I didn’t have a bed for her or anything, but I got up early the next morning and stocked up on everything you need for a dog.
“It’s been interesting and I’ve definitely got my hands full. She has ripped my house apart and she’s been bouncing off the walls, but when I’m in camp with Wales my parents look after her.
“They’ve started calling themselves grandparents now so they have fully bought into it. I’m a dog dad – that’s been the biggest change for me since Japan!
“There are a few of us in the squad who take our dogs out and get coffee. It’s quite funny and Owen Watkin bought a dog about a week after me. There is a bit of a trend going on.”
Bella is keeping Lewis on his toes away from rugby, but the front row ace knows he has to be similarly on edge whenever he’s involved with Pivac’s Wales.
Competition in the squad is rife across the board with Lewis battling it out with Leon Brown and WillGriff John of Sale for the tighthead jersey. Samson Lee is also nipping at his heels.
Lewis admits his preparation for the Six Nations was far from ideal. In Pivac’s first game in charge against the Barbarians last November he injured his hamstring – a problem which kept him sidelined until the middle of January. He was fit enough to be named in Wales’ squad, but starts against Italy and Ireland still caught him off guard.
It’s been all change in the Wales camp since the World Cup.
For Lewis, the biggest adjustment has come with the appointment of former Wales hooker Jonathan Humphreys as the team’s new forwards coach.
Humphreys has helped provide Wales’ players with a new outlook to the age-old art of scrummaging. Lewis is loving it and says he feels his game is improving all the time.
“The World Cup was an amazing experience for me,” Lewis said. “There were a lot of learnings I took from it, but the biggest thing for me since then has been working with Jonathan.
“The amount of detail he’s brought in, not only to my scrummaging, but to my work around the park has been really good for me. Working closely with him has brought me on a lot since the World Cup. “I’m learning a lot from his outlook on scrummaging and how he wants us to operate. I’m really enjoying working closely with him and I’m seeing some benefits from it. Coming into this campaign my scrum work had to be my biggest focus. It’s the priority when you start at tighthead.
“I couldn’t have had a worse build-up to the tournament in terms of injuries. It was unexpected to be given two starts, but it’s about what I do with those opportunities now.
“I have to try and keep hold of the shirt and go from there. It was a tough loss against Ireland as we’d showed a lot of what we can do against Italy in the opening game. It was a disappointing one out in Dublin, but we’ve got plenty to work on going into France.”
Wales blew Italy away 42-0 in round one before tasting defeat at the Aviva Stadium. A return to Principality Stadium this afternoon against Grand Slam-chasing France is an opportunity for Lewis and his team-mates to bounce back in front of a sold out Cardiff crowd. Les Bleus have won their opening two games with England and Italy and will be full of confidence for this afternoon’s game.
“It’s an exciting prospect to take on France,” Lewis said. “England did a bit of a job on them in terms of scrummaging and we know exactly what’s coming with a Shaun Edwards defence.
“It will be an exciting game. I can imagine Shaun would have gone in straight away and put his stamp on things. He had a big emphasis on working hard with Wales and his defence was brilliant.
“I’m sure he’s already made himself at home over there. He’s definitely putting his stamp on them.”
Former Wales defence coach Edwards swapped the red corner for the blue after the World Cup and has already got France on a winning run. Lewis and his team have designs on stopping that sequence with the tournament still wide open going into round three.
“There is still a good feeling in camp and it’s all to play for really. Ireland was a tough loss to take, but it won’t be slowing us down,” he added. “Tough love can be difficult to take, but in the long term it’s for the best both for me as an individual and the team. We have a very honest camp.
“The new coaches know what they want. They’re trying to put their stamp on it and it’s good they’re no nonsense about things. It’s in those scenarios when I react best. I’ve got to keep developing and keep learning under the new coaches. I want to leave a bit of a mark and put my hand up to keep on starting. Hopefully a few more opportunities come my way and I can make the most of them.”
