Wales captains Lake and Morgan embrace Gloucester challenge

The pair are relieved Gloucester’s notorious “milk challenge” initiation ended before they arrived.

New players were once expected to drink eight pints of milk in roughly 20 minutes without being sick.

Anyone who failed to finish in time, or was sick during the attempt, faced having their head shaved.

“It’s gone, thankfully,” said Lake.

“Jac and I spent the full summer on ChatGPT with pictures of ourselves bald just to start preparing ourselves.”

That initiation has now been replaced by a more physically demanding “Shed challenge”, involving sandbag runs up and down steps and tyre flips.

“Being here at Gloucester has been class so far,” said Lake.

“The boys and coaches have been welcoming, it feels like a place where I’m able to get better, learn a lot and test my game in a new league.

“I wanted to challenge myself and be uncomfortable, if you like, in a new environment.

“That’s the reason why I decided to make the move and I’m sure Jac feels the same.”

Morgan said Gloucester’s identity as a traditional rugby city with a strong community feel was another major attraction.

“A lot of people have been stopping us in the street and saying welcome to Gloucester,” said Morgan.

“You can see how much this club means for the city and you sense the history.

“A lot of the boys mentioned ‘the Shed’ [Kingsholm stand], so it’ll hopefully be a great experience to be able to play in front of the home crowd.

“We want to get a few more wins this year, do better than last year and see where it goes.”

Morgan has also taken encouragement from the Welsh players who have previously represented Gloucester, including Tomos Williams, James Hook and Richard Hibbard.

“There’s a lot of Welsh who have played here in the past and they’re part of the history,” said Morgan.

“There’s a photo of Hibs [Hibbard] up in the corridors there, so it’s good being able to see that.

“You speak to a lot of the past players about their experiences and Gloucester loved having them at the club.”

Lake and Morgan are part of a sizeable Welsh presence in English club rugby this season, alongside players including Aaron Wainwright, Dafydd Jenkins, Rhys Carre, Nicky Smith, Tomas Francis, Tomos Williams and Louis Rees-Zammit.

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