Wales captain Dewi Lake has delivered a frank and unreserved apology to the nation's rugby fans after his side suffered a humiliating 48-7 defeat to England at Twickenham. The visitors were comprehensively outplayed in every facet of the game, conceding seven tries and receiving four yellow cards in a performance that left the skipper "massively disappointed."
A Captain's Candid Assessment
Lake did not attempt to sugar-coat the reality of the heavy loss, which extends Wales's dismal run to 22 defeats in their last 24 Test matches. "We let ourselves down, we let people down," Lake stated bluntly. "We spoke all week about what we were going to produce and we didn't do it. There is no other way to say it – we're massively disappointed with what we put on the field today."
The hooker emphasised the importance of fan support during this challenging period. "Every voice matters to us at the minute, every fan in a seat that can get behind us. We said we would get the fans on their feet and we didn't today. We put ourselves under pressure, the penalty count and the yellow cards are down to us."
Looking Ahead to France Challenge
Despite the crushing setback, Lake insisted the squad would respond positively. "We will be better next week. This group will fight for each other all day, there is never a question of effort. [But] we weren't accurate enough when we had opportunities. You can't do that against one of the form teams in world rugby."
The task does not get any easier for Wales, with a buoyant French team heading to Cardiff next Sunday in ominous form, presenting another formidable challenge for the struggling side.
Coaching Staff Echo Disappointment
Wales head coach Steve Tandy echoed his captain's sentiments, describing the performance as bitterly disappointing. "We were inaccurate and couldn't get any momentum," Tandy admitted. "Playing England with 15 men is tough enough. Playing with 13 men for almost 20 minutes is hard. We are not a good enough team to have these inaccuracies."
Tandy refused to use the team's current world ranking as an excuse, despite facing the world's third-ranked side. "Even though we are 11th in the world and we came up against the third team in the world we expect more of ourselves."
England's Commanding Performance
In stark contrast, England head coach Steve Borthwick expressed satisfaction with many aspects of his team's display as they extended their winning streak to 12 consecutive matches. "I thought defensively we were excellent, I thought our kicking game was excellent," Borthwick remarked. "What was pleasing is that we created lots of opportunities. But in the second half we didn't convert those opportunities in the way we'd have liked."
Arundell's Hat-Trick Heroics
Borthwick paid particular tribute to Henry Arundell, whose first-half hat-trick took his remarkable tally to 11 tries in just 12 Test appearances for England. "We all know Henry is a player who has an incredible ability running with the ball and his ability to find a way to the try line is excellent," Borthwick said.
"What I have been really impressed with over the last number of months is his attitude to go and improve other aspects of his game. He has worked exceptionally hard and has come back to the Six Nations an even better player."
Building Momentum for Scotland Clash
Stand-in captain Jamie George, who led the team out with regular skipper Maro Itoje starting on the bench, suggested England had established an ideal platform ahead of next Saturday's Calcutta Cup encounter against Scotland at Murrayfield. "Regardless of who we were playing next week it's a brilliant platform. We wanted to start with a bang and I thought we did that today."
Man of the match George Ford also believes there is more to come from this England side, praising the first-half dominance established by the forward pack. "The start of a Test match is always massive. I thought the boys did that well ... we were able to dominate territory because of the boys up front. We are just trying to put bits of our game together, the more attacking opportunities we create the more we should take."
