Blake was one of five new caps to be brought into the pack, while the Swansea half-back pairing of Evan and David James returned into the team after their reinstatement to the rugby union code.

The selectors kept faith with Blake for the rest of the tournament, but Welsh fortunes dropped after the England game, with a loss to Scotland and Ireland.

Blake was back in the Wales team for the entirety of the 1900 Championship under the captaincy of Welsh sporting icon Billy Bancroft.

Blake retook his place in the pack, with the forwards being led by Dick Hellings, but they lacked cohesion in the tight and although beating England at the Cardiff Arms Park, looked ragged at times.

Wales were narrow victors, but the selectors chose a new wave of players at the start of 1902, as they had done in 1899, and Blake lost his place to Will Osborne.