Dewi Lake calls on Wales fans to bring ‘noise and energy’ to Scotland clash

Dewi Lake wants Wales to hear the “heartbeat of the nation” at Principality Stadium again for Scotland’s Guinness Six Nations visit.

Wales’ rugby decline was reflected by last weekend’s smallest crowd for a Six Nations match in Cardiff when vast swathes of seats were left empty in the 74,500-capacity stadium.

The Principality Stadium traditionally sells out for Wales’ Six Nations games, but the 57,744 Sunday attendance included an estimated 15,000 France fans.

Scotland’s visit on a more fan-friendly Saturday evening slot is set to attract a bigger crowd, possibly even nudging towards 70,000, and captain Lake welcomes the greater number of home fans set to back Wales in the third round of the Championship.

“You speak about people being a 16th man, especially in this stadium with the roof closed,” said hooker Lake.

“When (it’s rocking) it erupts. Unbelievable. I think it is the heartbeat of the nation when it’s like that.

“It’s our job to get people rocking, to get people enjoying the game and putting smiles on faces.

“I suppose all we ask for in return is the support and noise, and people feeding us that energy.

“We do feed off the crowd, their noise and reactions, and we want to get the fans excited and in the game.”

Wales have not won a Six Nations home game since beating Scotland in 2022.

Steve Tandy’s uncomfortable start to life in the Wales hot-seat has seen five defeats in six games, with defence being a major area of concern.

Wales have conceded 15 tries and 102 points in suffering heavy opening Six Nations defeats to England and France.

Lake said: “We’ve played two of the top-four teams in the world in the first two rounds, but that’s not an excuse over the tries we’ve conceded.

“We know we need to be better. But our game is developing and we will see that change.

“We’ve worked very hard defensively this week on certain aspects of our defence, getting off the line a bit more and getting a bit wider.

“We were getting a bit too tight around rucks. So a lot of hard work has gone into things and we’ll see that change on the weekend.”