Ireland head coach Andy Farrell only picked two Welsh players when he was the British and Irish Lions boss for the 2025 tour with flanker Jac Morgan and scrum-half Tomos Williams travelling to Australia.

Lake was asked whether the Lions selection indicated the difference between the two sides at the moment.

“It can’t not, really,” said Lake. “Ultimately over the last 12 months, we haven’t been good enough as a team.

“The two individuals, Tomos and Jac, are world-class players and fully deserved to be on that tour.

“We haven’t put enough results together, we haven’t shown the team and the individuals that we can be over the last 12 months.

“Ireland are a team that have massively grown and are top-class. It shows an obvious gulf at the minute. But on our day, we believe we can beat anyone.”

Lake says Wales will not be trying to prove Farrell wrong this weekend.

“I don’t think that’s got anything to do with it as to why we think we can compete against Ireland,” said Lake.

“Regardless of who’s in the room, or who’s coaching, we believe we’re a good enough team to do a job on them.”