The skipper has insisted the team must give supporters something worth shouting about when Scotland arrive for their Guinness Six Nations clash on Saturday.
Wales’ recent struggles have been mirrored in the stands. Last weekend’s Championship fixture produced the smallest Six Nations crowd in Cardiff in years, with large sections of the 74,500-capacity stadium empty.
The attendance of 57,744 was also boosted by an estimated 15,000 travelling France supporters, underlining the challenge facing Welsh rugby both on and off the field.
Saturday evening’s visit of Scotland is expected to draw a significantly larger and more partisan crowd, potentially approaching 70,000, and Lake believes a stronger home presence can help — but only if Wales set the tone themselves.
“You speak about people being a 16th man, especially in this stadium with the roof closed,” said hooker Lake.
“When (it’s rocking) it erupts. Unbelievable. I think it is the heartbeat of the nation when it’s like that.
“But it’s our job to get people rocking, to get people enjoying the game and putting smiles on faces.
“I suppose all we ask for in return is the support and noise, and people feeding us that energy.
“We do feed off the crowd, their noise and reactions, and we want to get the fans excited and in the game.”
Wales have not tasted a home Six Nations victory since beating Scotland in 2022, and the pressure is mounting after a difficult start to the campaign under head coach Steve Tandy, who has overseen five defeats in his first six matches in charge.
Heavy losses to England and France have seen Wales concede 15 tries and 102 points in the opening two rounds.
Lake acknowledged those defensive shortcomings but stressed that improvement must come quickly if Wales are to reward supporters with a performance capable of lifting the stadium.
“We’ve played two of the top-four teams in the world in the first two rounds, but that’s not an excuse over the tries we’ve conceded.
“We know we need to be better. But our game is developing and we will see that change.
“We’ve worked very hard defensively this week on certain aspects of our defence, getting off the line a bit more and getting a bit wider.
“We were getting a bit too tight around rucks. So a lot of hard work has gone into things and we’ll see that change on the weekend.”
Before the senior team takes the field, the Wales U20s can set the tone and strike a blow against the Scots when they host their curtain-raiser at Cardiff Arms Park on Friday night (7.15).
Coach Richard Whiffin has given his side strict instructions to get the ball into the hands of electric wing Tom Bowen as often as possible.
Bowen scored one of the most amazing tries ever seen at this age level against France last weekend, only to have his effort cruelly ruled out by the TMO for an incident earlier in the build-up.
It was one of two tries Wales chalked off in their 34-24 defeat to the reigning champions in another epic duel in the Welsh capital.
That followed on from the 19-16 heartbreak against England at Franklin’s Gardens in Round 1.
It means that coming into Round 3 Wales are propping up the table as they prepare for a revenge mission against the Scots, who took full advantage of their hosts going down to 13 men in Edinburgh last year to run out 27-12 victors.
In a bid to turn the tide, and to get the crowd excited and involved, Whiffin wants to get Bowen’s electric legs and dancing feet moving as often as possible.
“We’ve got to try to get Tom on the ball as often as possible to allow his speed, athleticism and ‘X Factor’ ability into the game,” said Whiffin.
“The energy, speed and intensity of last week’s game against the French really brought the crowd into play and we want to do that again.
"We’re really proud of this group and the performances they’ve put in so far.
“The brand of rugby they’re playing is exciting, they’re very connected and competitive and we feel gutted for them that they lost to both England and France.
"The challenge for us this week is to get into the same mental state as we have over the last few weeks. “We know that if we can put our game on the field it will be a test for anyone in this competition and at the World Cup in the summer."
