The Wales captain, Dewi Lake, has urged fans in Cardiff to lift his side for the Six Nations meeting with Scotland on Saturday.
After last week’s record thrashing by France, Wales have lost 13 consecutive Six Nations matches, while Scotland arrive at the Principality Stadium in upbeat mood after their handsome Calcutta Cup triumph over England.
Wales’s most recent home victory in the tournament came against Scotland in 2022, and Lake wants the energy of home supporters to “feed” his team.
“You speak about people being a 16th man, especially in this stadium with the roof closed,” he said. “When it erupts I think it is the heartbeat of the nation. It’s our job to get people rocking, to get people enjoying the game and putting smiles on faces. All we ask for in return is the support and noise, and people feeding us that energy.”
Wales have conceded 102 points in two championship matches, scoring just 19, and are yet to muster a bonus point. Lake said defensive improvement has been a priority for Steve Tandy’s side in training this week.
“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,” said the hooker. “We know we need to be better. But our game is developing.
“We’ve worked very hard defensively this week, getting off the line a bit more and getting a bit wider. We were getting a bit too tight around rucks. A lot of hard work has gone in.”
France face Italy in Lille on Sunday with Gonzalo Quesada’s team having beaten Scotland and run Ireland close in their first two matches. Les Bleus head coach, Fabien Galthié, has cranked up the power accordingly, restoring the towering locks Thibaud Flament and Emmanuel Meafou to his XV.
The hosts’ team at Stade Pierre-Mauroy will be otherwise unchanged after a captivating attacking display against Wales, with the captain, Antoine Dupont, at scrum-half, Matthieu Jalibert at fly-half and Thomas Ramos at full-back. Émilien Gailleton and Fabien Brau-Boirie, both of Pau, continue in midfield with Théo Attissogbe and Louis Bielle-Biarrey – who have both scored three tries in the 2026 championship, second only to England’s Henry Arundell with four – on the wings.
Six of Galthié’s forward pack play for Toulouse and he said: “The scrum is subtle, it’s about feelings, connections – it’s about precision. Italy have shown a collective strength and a collective ability in the scrum, and we expect a huge challenge there.”
Ange Capuozzo returns at full-back for Italy in the only change to Quesada’s starting XV. The fly-half Paolo Garbisi said the 13-13 draw in 2024, when he struck the post with a penalty in the dying seconds in Lille, still haunts him.
“It is something I will unfortunately never forget – it will always be there in a corner of my head,” Garbisi said. “More than anything it’s regret for the boys. I wanted to repay them for all the effort they put in.”
