Six Nations 2026: England 48-7 Wales – Dewey Lake says players have let the nation down

Since the 2023 World Cup, Wales have amassed a dismal international record of 22 defeats in 24 Tests, with only two victories coming against Japan in 2025.

It has been 1,064 days since Wales’ previous Six Nations victory over Italy in Rome in March 2023, and this latest blow marked a 12th successive loss in the tournament.

Wales host favorites France in eight days in Cardiff, having not won a home match in the tournament since beating Scotland in February 2022.

Ticket sales are slow for the three home matches, with thousands still available for visiting France.

“Every vote matters right now, every fan can stand behind us,” Lake said.

“We know we’ll be better next week. We’ve talked a lot about our desire to excite the nation.

“We didn’t do that today but we have four more games in this tournament.”

Lake says the effort put in by the team cannot be questioned, but admits the quality was not there against England.

“This group is going to fight for each other all day long,” Lake said.

“There’s no question about putting in the effort. It’s not hard to get that out of this group or keep these guys moving forward.”

“They love wearing this shirt and want to work hard.

“That’s why this group is special. For us, it’s about turning it into precision and turning that to our advantage.”