Dewi Lake described being named Wales captain as a “massive honour” ahead of their opening summer fixture against the Barbarians at Allianz Stadium on Saturday.
Speaking in a joint press conference alongside Wales women’s captain Alex Callender, Lake stressed that leading the side would not be an individual effort, highlighting the strength of the squad’s leadership group.
"It's a massive honour," said Lake. “It always is to captain Wales and wear the red jersey.
“We've got an incredible leadership group, Full of leaders after the past couple of campaigns - Daf (Dafydd Jenkins), Jac (Morgan), Tomos (Williams), Josh Adams - so it won't be a job I'll do alone.”
The Gloucester-bound hooker was named captain ahead of club teammate Morgan for Wales’ four summer fixtures and spoke about the close partnership between the pair.
"It’s always a surprise," Lake admitted when he found out he would be leading the national side.
"You never expect anything. Jac's an incredible leader, unlucky with injury otherwise he'd still be in this role. But we all help each other when it gets to game day and everyone is called upon in certain areas.
"I speak to Jac every day. We're lucky we have an incredible relationship on and off the field. Either way, the other one was always going to be full of support for the other.
"We've co-captained before. He's been captain and I've helped. I've been captain and he's helped. That's how we work.
"We don't look at it as 'it's me, not him'. It's the two of us together. I know he'll support me in any way he can, and there'll be times where I lean on him a lot.
"It would have been exactly the same if the decision was the other way. For us, we come as a pair quite a lot. I know Jac will be in my corner and he will be there whenever I need."
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While their opening match against the Barbarians will be an uncapped fixture, Lake is hoping Wales can build on the momentum they showed at the end of the Six Nations, following improved performances against Scotland, Ireland and Italy.
"We've spoken a lot about picking up from where we've left off," added Lake. "It's not a feeler kind of game. We want to set a marker down early.
"We got to a good place at the back end of the Six Nations in those last three games, and it's about starting where we left off.
"We are going to have to adapt and there might be trial and error around some things, but defensively and set-piece, we took massive strides forward.
"it's about targeting certain things, whether it's defence or attack. It's a Test match, but within that, we are targeting certain things we want to see more of. We know the quality in that side [Barbarians] and that it's going to be a bit chaotic, so we'll be ready for that as well."
Standing in Wales’ way will be a Barbarians side featuring former Welsh great George North, who is set to make his final appearance before retiring from professional rugby.
Lake explained the impact North had on his development during their time together at the Ospreys.
“It’ll be a strange one,” Lake admitted.
“George and Lyds (Dan Lydiate) did a massive amount for me throughout my career, especially that year we spent together injured. They really taught me about what being a pro was about.
"It’s nice, but not nice, to go up against George but he's been an incredible operator for Wales. An amazing way to send him off.
"I learned so much off him about off-the-field stuff. Looking after your body, how you apply yourself off the field as well as on it. At 19 or 20, you don't think about that so much, but it helped me invest in myself and my career, taught me a lot."
