Wales draft in a replacement as Dewi Lake is ruled out of series

Dewi Lake has been ruled out of Wales’ Autumn Nations Series due to a shoulder injury. The Ospreys hooker was hurt during his team’s United Rugby Championship defeat against the Dragons on Sunday. Lake has been replaced in the 35-man squad by Dragons’ former Ulster forward Bradley Roberts.

Wales kick off their autumn schedule against New Zealand on November 5, with Lake the latest casualty. Head coach Wayne Pivac was already without Dan Biggar, Liam Williams, Wyn Jones, Leon Brown, Seb Davies, Johnny Williams, Josh Navidi and Taine Basham because of injuries.

Pivac also has a number of other players who will require monitoring during the build-up to New Zealand’s Cardiff visit. That list includes George North (knee), Leigh Halfpenny (hamstring strain), Josh Adams (hand), Alex Cuthbert (shoulder) and Gareth Anscombe (ribs).

Wales also face Argentina, Georgia and Australia during their autumn programme.