Dewi Lake relives Wales U20’s great escape

Not only was history not on Wales’ side, the gods weren’t either. The teams arrived at the ground amidst an electrical storm. Thunder and lightning cackled throughout the first half with torrential rain adding to the mayhem.

After 28 minutes of action, with Wales fortuitously ahead thanks to a Tiaan Thomas-Wheeler touchdown, the referee ordered the teams off the field as the players safety became a major concern. For over an hour, Lake and his teammates were crammed inside a small changing room waiting for the storm to pass, not knowing when, or even if, the game would restart.

But it did – and how Wales came away with just their second win against the Baby Blacks still remains a minor miracle. Starved of any possession, unable to gain a foothold in territory and constantly back pedalling in defence, Lake and his heroes defied all the odds to send New Zealand to their lowest ranking (7^th) in the 12-year history of the competition.

Twelve months on the Ospreys hooker looks back on the great escape with pride.

“It’s nuts, it hasn’t felt like a year at all,” he says, “ I don’t know if it is because we have been stuck inside for the past couple of months but it doesn’t feel at all like it has been a year since it happened,” he says.

Gareth Williams’ side were initially assembled in the group of death alongside hosts Argentina, defending champions France and Fiji. The fact that Wales withstood a fierce challenge from Argentina in their opening game of the tournament and finished their pool with a convincing win against Fiji gave Wales much needed confidence when they faced the young men in black, believes Lake.

“We spoke about getting off to a good start, especially in a tough group with reigning champions France. We knew they were going to be tough and Argentina hadn’t beaten us the year before and now playing in their back yard we knew it would be tough to get out of the group so we had to get off to a flying start.

“We had done our analysis on them and knew what they could bring, we focused a lot on ourselves for that game – our plan was to try and silence their crowd, keep the scoreboard ticking over – as we did with Cai Evan’s boot. And just try and get ourselves over the edge really but they made it really tough.

“They were camped on our 22 and they had a couple of penalties in the last couple of minutes so I think a lot of us on the side-lines were getting nervous just because they were a team that could do anything from anywhere. You saw that try where the No 8 picks the ball up from our retreating scrum and they go the length so we knew they were dangerous. A quick tap penalty if we switched off they could be over in the corner and win the game. But I was proud of the performance the boys put in to get us the first win on the road.”

Due to an inferior points differential to Argentina and France, Wales had to contend themselves with a third placing in the pool despite losing just the one game to France, otherwise Lake’s side would have been playing for a top four spot.

Despite injuries to key players Aneurin Owen and Harri Morgan ruling them out of contention, Lake says the team went into the game against the Baby Blacks without any fear.

“What was good in the New Zealand game, there were a few of us who had played them the year before in the group,” he says. “It’s always a daunting task facing a team like New Zealand, they are a massive name, probably the biggest name in world rugby but the way management handled it and the way the boys handled it worked in our favour very well.

“We tried not to give them too much respect because I think that is what a lot of teams do – they know what New Zealand can bring so they are kind of a bit scared so we tried to take that element out a bit and look at them just like any other team. Do our own analysis and go into it with our heads held high.

“I think the conditions played into our hands very well – in the middle of the storm – the boys really did dig deep defensively. I remember being told as we were running in on the break and there was maybe three or four of us – myself, Tommy Reffell, Jac Morgan and one of the backs who were already in double digit tackles – which still blows my mind and it shows just how little of the ball we had in the game.

“Our squad depth felt incredible. We had boys who could fill in and play multiply positions, a lot of leadership players on the field with Tommy [Reffell], Lennon [Greggains] and Cai [Evans] so I think losing boys was tough but the boys who filled in fulfilled their role perfectly as well which speaks volumes to them.”

Wales’ only try of the match, against the run of play, scored by Lake’s Ospreys teammate Tiaan Thomas-Wheeler, is still fresh in his mind.

“It came from either a scrum or lineout, I think, a knock on in midfield and then Tiaan hacks through once and I thought he was losing the race and then a New Zealand player tries and dives on the ball but he knees it and Tiaan pokes it through towards the corner flag. I remember watching thinking ‘oh, this is going to go dead’ and I just see the ref’s hand go up.”

With the Baby Blacks constantly thundering into the Welsh defence, Lake’s troops stood toe to toe with the rampant Kiwis but they held firm until the referee sent the teams from the field in the 28^th minute.

“It was tough but what made it a lot easier for us was being ahead on the scoreboard,” he recalls.

“It would have been a lot tougher had New Zealand scored and we were behind. If we had been behind 5-0 and we’re trying to chase the game and not seeing much of the ball I think then it would have been a lot tougher to control the room and control emotions but being 5-0 up and knowing that defensively we actually had done well against a side renowned for their attacking flair, we were quite confident.

“We were more disappointed if anything as we felt, actually although we didn’t have the ball we had control so a lot of it was frustration that we had to come in. We felt very set in that game. I remember talking to the boys when we came in, even though there was heavy rain, it wasn’t hot so we didn’t feel drained so we were a bit gutted with the stoppage.”

Once the teams returned to the pitch, New Zealand continued to hammer away at the Welsh defence but led by the magnificent back row of Reffell, Greggains and Morgan, Wales kept their line intact – until the Baby Blacks saw Tupou Va’ai crash over from short range. With Fergus Burke adding the extras, Wales saw themselves behind for the first time of the match with time on the clock rapidly running out.

“It was a tough time,” admits Lake, ‘defensively we had defended for about 75 minutes at that point and you can tell the boys are tired, the bodies are hurting, the effort they had put in defensively wasn’t being shown being down 7-5 at that point.

“New Zealand had deserved a try, I will say that, but it’s tough to take that at point.”

But Wales never gave up. They worked their way downfield and eventually earned a penalty. But with the normal metronomic Cai Evans having an off day with the boot, did Lake have any doubts in his mind that the fly half would miss from 35m.

“It never crept into my head that Cai was going to miss here and we’re done. It was more of Cai’s going to kick it and we’ve got to hold on for a couple of minutes. That was more the worry. I’d played with Cai long enough to know under pressure he’ll get the job done. Having missed a couple of kicks that game it was quite clear to me he was going to kick it. I was very confident of him getting the ball over – it was more the hanging on to the lead at the end that worried me.”

And so it turned out. Wales were penalised at a ruck and from long range in atrocious conditions, Burke had the chance to break Welsh hearts.

“We were on the side-line standing watching and it is dead time at that point, the clock has gone red – there’s nothing much you can do with the sinking feeling that what we’ve worked for is just going to slip away at the last minute,” says Lake. “But he drags it left. There’s a video of all the boys on the bench screaming on to the pitch, Jac Price jumping up and down, but the picture that sticks in my head is always of Deon Smith consoling a New Zealand player while everyone else is celebrating.”

Physically and mentally the Welsh players were drained when they left the pitch, with the inspirational Lake shedding a tear or two with sheer relief.

“The whole occasion, possibly having the game stripped away from us in the last couple of minutes only to seal the win, after a tough ride against France, the group of boys worked so hard through the year for this so I think that was just down to the emotion and occasion,” he says.

And who can blame him? On Monday 17 June 2019, he led from the front thoughout against the most decoreated side at U20 level in the world, never taking a backwards step in a side which weathered the storm both on and off the pitch for a famous victory.