South Africa v Wales: Dewi Lake aims for Malcolm Marx reunion

Wales head coach Warren Gatland name checked Lake and Exeter lock Dafydd Jenkins as two young players who had embraced the challenges of international rugby.

Lakes insists he loves the physical battle.

“That’s why I fell in love with the game,” said Lake.

“I was never very good at touch rugby or sevens! That wasn’t my forte.

“That physical and one-on-one battle with your opposite number is what I look forward to.

“The South Africa pack are known for dominance and they will always come at you and I’m relishing the opportunity to go toe-to-toe with them.

“They are double world champions, you get into Test match rugby to play the best.”

Not many people are giving this inexperienced and experimental Wales side a chance against South Africa, especially given the contrasting recent form of the two sides.

Wales have lost their last six internationals and finished bottom of the Six Nations for the first time in 20 years.

“That’s on us to change,” said Lake.

“It is not for me to speak on previous results. That’s parked and in the past.

“It’s what we do going forward, how we change people’s perception of us and what we want to look like as a group.

“It’s about installing winning habits and mindsets and believing in ourselves, so we can show we can do it and put those results together.”