Dan Lydiate (born 18 December 1987) is a Wales international rugby union player. A

flanker Flanker may refer to: * Flanker (perfume), a newly created perfume sharing attributes of an existing one * Flanker (rugby union), a position in rugby union (not found in rugby league) * ''Su-27 Flanker'' (video game), a 1996 computer game modelin ...

, Lydiate was raised in

Llandrindod Wells Llandrindod Wells (; ; ; ) is a town and community (Wales), community in Powys, Wales. It serves as the seat of Powys County Council, and is therefore the administrative centre of Powys. The town was Historic counties of Wales, historically in ...

and is a product of the Newport Gwent Dragons academy.

Early life

The younger of two boys born to English docker John Lydiate at Hope Hospital, their Welsh mother Lynne raised them in

Salford, Greater Manchester Salford ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Greater Manchester, England, on the western bank of the River Irwell which forms its boundary with Manchester city centre. Landmarks include the former Salford Town Hall, town hall, ...

. After their father suffered an injury, the family moved to

when Dan was aged 4, so that their father could work on his father-in-law's sheep farm in the

Cambrian Mountains The Cambrian Mountains (, in a narrower sense: ''Elenydd'') are a series of mountain ranges in Wales. The term ''Cambrian Mountains'' used to apply to most of the upland of Wales, and comes from the country's Latin name . Since the 1950s, it ...

. Older brother Jack represented Wales colleges at rugby. Dan and Jack have two older brothers John (also born at Hope Hospital) and Steven and an older sister Gillian from their father's first marriage. While growing up in

Powys Powys ( , ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county and Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county in Wales. It borders Gwynedd, Denbighshire, and Wrexham County Borough, Wrexham to the north; the English Ceremonial counties of England, ceremo ...

, Lydiate attended Llanbister Primary School and Llandrindod High School.

Career

He was an ever-present member of the Wales Under 20 back row along with Lewis Evans and James Harris for their Six Nations campaign in 2006/7 and progressed to the Dragons senior side at the end of that season. Early in the 2007/08 season he suffered a serious neck injury in the Heineken Cup Group match away to Perpignan which ruled him out for the rest of the season, with doubts raised as to whether or not he would ever play again. On 25 October 2009 Lydiate was named in the Wales national squad for the November 2009 international series, making his debut as a second-half replacement against Argentina on 21 November 2009. Following the withdrawal of captain

Ryan Jones Ryan Paul Jones (born 13 March 1981) is a Wales former international rugby union player who played at number eight, blindside flanker or second row. He was involved in three Grand Slam wins, in 2005, as captain in 2008, and 2012. He is one ...

from the Wales squad to face Australia in the final Autumn International, Lydiate made his first test match start at flanker on 28 November 2009. He was named in the Wales squad for the

2010 Six Nations Championship The 2010 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2010 RBS 6 Nations due to sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 11th series of the Six Nations Championship and the 116th international championship, an annual rugby union competition b ...

, however did not play a single game. He then broke into the Welsh first XV in the autumn internationals of that year, starting against Australia, New Zealand and Fiji as well as being named in the team to face South Africa before withdrawing with a calf injury. He won the Man of the Match award against the Fijians, where he wore the Number 7 jersey for the first time. He played every match of Wales'

2011 Six Nations Championship The 2011 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2011 RBS 6 Nations due to sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 12th series of the Six Nations Championship, and the 117th edition of the international championship. The annual rugby uni ...

campaign as well as all four warm-up matches. In August 2011 he was named in the Wales squad for the

2011 Rugby World Cup The 2011 Rugby World Cup, was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The World Rugby, International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japa ...

in New Zealand. He played in Wales' opening two games against South Africa and Samoa, but missed the pool games against Namibia and Fiji with an ankle injury that lead to him infamously waking up to ice his leg every hour. It paid off, and he played a key role in Wales' quarter-final win over Ireland and then subsequent losses to France and Australia. He finished second on the tournament's top-tacklers, behind only Wales and Dragons teammate Toby Faletau. In the

2012 Six Nations Championship The 2012 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2012 RBS 6 Nations due to the tournament's sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 13th series of the Six Nations Championship. The annual northern hemisphere rugby union championship was ...

, Lydiate received the Player of the Tournament award after featuring in every game bar the opener against Ireland and receiving man of the match awards against Scotland and France. In April 2013 Lydiate was named in the squad for the

2013 British & Irish Lions tour to Australia The 2013 British & Irish Lions tour to Australia was a rugby union tour during June and July 2013. The British & Irish Lions played ten matches - a three-Test match (rugby union), test series against Australia national rugby union team, Austra ...

. Lydiate left Newport Gwent Dragons at the end of the 2012–13 season and joined the

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

-based club

Racing Métro 92 Racing 92 () is a French professional rugby union club based in the Hauts-de-Seine department, Paris' western inner suburbs that competes in Top 14. The club plays its home matches at the 30,681-capacity domed stadium Paris La Défense Arena, l ...

. On 30 October 2014 it was announced Lydiate would be leaving Racing Metro and returning to Wales on a dual contract between the

Welsh Rugby Union The Welsh Rugby Union (WRU; ) is the governing body of rugby union in the country of Wales, recognised by the sport's international governing body, World Rugby. The WRU is responsible for the running of rugby in Wales, overseeing 320 member clu ...

and a Welsh region, on 7 December 2014 this was announced to be

Ospreys The osprey (; ''Pandion haliaetus''), historically known as sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor, reaching more than in length and a wingspan of . It is ...

Lydiate was a part of the Welsh team for the

2015 Rugby World Cup The IRB 2015 Rugby World Cup was the eighth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial rugby union world championship. The tournament was hosted by England from 18 September to 31 October. Of the 20 countries competing in the World Cup in 2011, there was ...

International tries

References

External links

*
Newport Gwent Dragons profile

Wales profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lydiate, Dan 1987 births Living people British & Irish Lions rugby union players from Wales Dragons RFC players Ebbw Vale RFC players Ospreys (rugby union) players 21st-century Welsh sportsmen Sportspeople from Llandrindod Wells Rugby union players from Powys People educated at Ysgol Calon Cymru Pontypool RFC players Racing 92 players Rugby union flankers Rugby union players from Salford Wales international rugby union players Welsh rugby union players 2011 Rugby World Cup players 2015 Rugby World Cup players 2023 Rugby World Cup players Welsh expatriate rugby union players in France