Gloucester-bound Lake back to lead Ospreys

Dewi Lake, a hooker from Wales, will lead Ospreys in their Saturday United Rugby Championship (URC) home game against Munster in Bridgend.

At the end of the 2025-26 campaign, Gloucester will sign Lake and flanker Jac Morgan, who are currently out of contract with the Ospreys.

Lake, 26, hasn’t played since leading Wales to a 7-0 defeat last month against South Africa.

Mark Jones, the head coach for the Ospreys, has praised Lake’s handling of his move.

“His professionalism around the club has been excellent,” Jones asserted.

“You wouldn’t have known there was a problem.” Not just those two lads [Lake and Morgan], but everyone in the group will agree.

Owen Watkin and Morgan Morris make their first starts for Wales while Reuben Morgan-Williams, Rhys Davies, James Ratti, and Harri Deaves are also back.

There are definitely some healthier bodies returning, according to Jones, who keeps his head frothing about the choices.

There are a lot of guys playing well in certain roles, they say.

In the Champions Cup bonus-point win over Gloucester, Munster, who are third, made six changes to the team’s personnel and two positional adjustments.

Ospreys’ pool victories against Connacht and Montauban have almost confirmed their spot in the Challenge Cup knockout stages.

In contrast, Jones’ team is 13th in the URC table, having only won six of their matches so far this campaign.

These performances have been coming, Jones said, despite not having as many victories as we’d like in the URC.

“We’ve shown that we’re a very good team, but not enough times in games,” we said. We’ve been playing some fantastic winning games.

“We’ve made some significant steps forward and the signs have been positive.”

The Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) has proposed to cut one of its four professional sides, making it uncertain at this time in Wales’ domestic game.

The governing body of Welsh rugby has proposed to grant three professional men’s clubs a license.

One in Cardiff, one in the east, and one in the west could lead to a Swansea-based Ospreys and Scarlets survival battle.

Another way the governing body could obtain its wish to lose a side has been linked to the ownership of Ospreys, Y11 Sport &amp, Media, which has also been linked to taking over WRU-owned Cardiff.

When you boil it all back and put everything on hold, no one can change how they perform their duties, whether it be as a player, coach, or whoever.

“Do your best to earn the badge,” you say. If you do that, you’ll ensure that whatever you’re doing is carried out with the highest caliber.

Replacements: Walsh, C Jones, Botha, Sutton, Morse, Hardy, K Williams, and Parry.

Munster: Haley, Nash, T. Farrell, Kendellen, Coombes, Nankivell, Daly, Crowley, Patterson, Loughman, Scannell, Ala’alatoa, Kleyn, Wycherley, O’Donoghue (capt), O’Donoghue (capt),

Barron, Milne, Bartley, Edogbo, Ahern, Coughlan, Hanrahan, and Hodnett are the replacements.

Referee: SRU Referee Sam Grove-White.

Assistants: Andrew Moule (WRU), Craig Evans (WRU), and Andrew Moule (WRU).