By Gareth James
Dewi Lake and James Ratti are living proof that community club rugby in Wales can still take a youngster from village fields to the Principality Stadium.
And sometimes the transformation from childhood ambitions to living the dream can happen almost overnight.
Before the current Six Nations started, few would have bet on 22-year-old Lake and Ratti, 24, being part of the tournament.
But as Wales move towards round four at home to France next week, Ospreys hooker Lake and Cardiff back-row forward Ratti are savouring every moment of their progress into the men’s national senior squad for the first time.
Lake came off the replacements’ bench to earn his first cap against Ireland in Dublin – fulfilling a journey that started out in his home town of Bridgend when he began playing rugby for Valley Ravens.
The Ravens – a team created to offer children opportunities by pooling the resources of clubs at Nantymoel, Ogmore Vale and Pontycymer – gave him his first taste of the sport and ignited the passion.
From there, Lake went on to play for Bridgend Sports, Nantyffyllon, Ogmore Vale, Bridgend Ravens, Swansea, Neath and then the Ospreys.
While he was busy enjoying the sport, learning and progressing, those who make it their business to spot talent were keeping close tabs on him.
He played for the national age-group teams, including Wales U20s, who he memorably captained to victory over New Zealand three years ago.
But it was those early days playing with his mates where his love of the game – and the sense of belonging it provided – formed the foundation for his success.
“A lot of my best mates are still boys I met playing sport with at a young age,” says Lake.
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“Those clubs taught me a lot about growing up. It also gave me something to do on Tuesday and Thursday nights.
“We didn’t all go to the same school as I was at the Welsh school, but it was good to be with those other boys in that environment.
“In a sense, I miss those times within junior rugby because it was all about enjoyment and having a good time with your mates and less about winning.
“In professional sport, it’s much more about winning and while you can still have fun, it’s not quite the same.”
There have been plenty of challenges along the way for Lake, not least having to swap position from back-row forward to hooker on the advice of his coaches.
But learning to deal with adversity at a young age in his early days, has given him the resilience to keep going when times get tough.
More recently, he had to cope with a year out recovering from a serious ankle injury that probably delayed his rise to the national squad.
“You develop more by going through difficult times. You take those moments from different times in your life and turn them into learning experiences.
“I had to learn a lot when I was young – how to deal with pressure and not being too disappointed if I wasn’t picked.”
Ratti – who grew up in Swansea, but who has made his mark after moving to play at Cardiff – has been on a similar pathway to Lake.
He’s played his junior rugby at Dunvant RFC, a Swansea club renowned for the numbers of boys and girls they give a start to through their Dunvant Devils sessions and where his father Lee was a coach.
“He coached me when I started at under sevens all the way up to under 16s,” says Ratti.
“He was Dunvant senior coach at the time I started playing, but after a few years he became Tata Steel coach, and he was there for 10 years.”
Ratti also played at Bishopston School, Llandovery College and Gower College, before moving upwards and onwards with Aberavon and the Ospreys Academy.
Pivac: “James Ratti is in a position where we don’t have a lot of No.8s. We think he brings the raw ingredients and with a bit of time and work we can keep improving him as a player. Those selections are about looking ahead, not just the here and now.” pic.twitter.com/j5Me6wrT7T
— Cardiff Rugby (@Cardiff_Rugby) January 18, 2022
Like Lake, it has certainly not been all plain sailing. His time at the Ospreys did not open the door to a place in their first team, so he dropped down a tier to the Welsh Premiership and joined Cardiff RFC.
From there, his performances caught the eye of the regional Cardiff set-up and he stepped back up a level – proving that sometimes you need to move sideways or downwards to get where you want to be.
“I’d like to think I always believed,” he says.
“You have your moments when your head is in the mud, but I don’t think you go away from thinking that.
“If you don’t believe you can get there, it probably affects your training and your performances.
“When I made the Wales squad, my dad was just really chuffed for me. He’s backed me through the journey I’ve had at every level.
“Even at points where my head’s been down a little bit, he’s given me a kick up the backside and kept me pushing forward.”