EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Dan Lydiate discusses bouncing back from serious injuries

Sitting in a tennis centre in the small town of Fiesch in the Swiss Alps – one which has been taken over by Wales’ rugby team – an emotional Dan Lydiate is in a reflective mood.

‘Sorry, I’m getting a bit choked up here,’ says the tough-as-teak flanker, as he discusses the death of his late father John last year and his ups and downs recovering from a series of serious injuries. ‘It’s all good. Carry on.’

Even at 35, Lydiate keeps on coming back for more. Time and again he has battled back from the treatment room to prove the doubters – as well as the doctors – wrong.

He has 68 Welsh caps to his name and it would have been far more were it not for the long periods he’s spent on the sidelines.

Still, in the twilight of his career, Lydiate is a part of Wales’ extended training squad currently in Switzerland. He is bidding for a place at what would be his third World Cup.

Dan Lydiate has had many setbacks but he is focused on getting into Wales’ World Cup squad

Lydiate has shown impressive resilience to bounce back from a host of injury problems

In an emotional interview, Lydiate discusses his father’s death and his love for farming 

‘Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had some really dark days,’ he tells Mail Sport.

‘You question yourself a lot of the time. It’s tough. But I’m back in the mixer now and there is always light at the end of the tunnel. That’s what keeps driving you on.

‘It’s about having no regrets. When I do hang up my boots, I’ll know I’ll have put absolutely everything into it. I’ll be able to rest easy knowing I’ve left no stone unturned, especially when it comes to effort. I do still enjoy the game. I’ve had lots of injuries so if I didn’t still enjoy it, I’d probably have hung up my boots a long time ago.

‘While I still have a burning ambition, I’ll keep going. There are times when you don’t think you’ll play international rugby again. I missed a few years through not being selected.

‘Now, I’m back again. It seems to have come full circle.’

Lydiate stessed that he is now hoping that he can enjoy a run of games without injuries 

After being capped by Wales on 69 occasions, Lydiate is eager to make further appearances

Over the course of 16 years in professional rugby, Lydiate’s resilience has been remarkable

Follow MailSport on Threads here: https://www.threads.net/@mailsport 

Lydiate’s resilience over the course of 16 years in professional rugby has been remarkable. In 2007 and just as he was getting going, he broke his neck.

There have been countless knocks since.

In 2021 and after three years in Test exile, Lydiate made a comeback against Ireland at the start of that year’s Six Nations and promptly suffered a horror knee injury. Last autumn, just a week after his father’s passing, Lydiate started against Argentina but was forced off with a broken arm.

He could surely have been forgiven had he decided to give up, but Lydiate is not for quitting.

‘It would be nice to have a run without injury to be honest,’ he says, a wry smile crossing his lips.

‘I had an opportunity last summer in South Africa and I felt like I was playing the best rugby of my career. In the autumn I broke my arm early on against Argentina. I guess that’s rugby.

The death of his father is still raw for Lydiate, who is eager to perform well in his memory

The ups and downs have been constant – Lydiate has managed to come out the other side

‘I knew something wasn’t right but I felt I couldn’t come off that early, especially after just losing my old man. I wanted to put a brave face on it and have a big performance for him.

‘It’s still pretty raw to be honest.’

Hence the brief moment of emotion.

Lydiate continues: ‘As soon as I got the operation done, I got back on the horse with training. I was fortunate enough to be called up into this wider squad and hopefully I can get a shot at this World Cup. It would be massive. Whatever happens, I know I’ll have put everything into it.’

Despite injury, Lydiate has had a fine career. He helped Wales to the semi-finals of the 2011 World Cup.

During an impressive career, Lydiate helped Wales to the semi-finals of the 2011 World Cup

He was player of the 2012 Six Nations in a Welsh grand slam and a year later, was a key figure as the Lions claimed a famous series win in Australia.

Wales head coach Warren Gatland has always been a big fan of Lydiate yet even that was not enough for him to be part of the 2019 World Cup where his country reached the semi-finals.

The ups and downs seem to have been constant. Lydiate has ridden the rollercoaster and come out the other side. Away from rugby, Lydiate continues to work on the family farm.

He plans on enhancing his father’s agricultural legacy when he does step away from the game. Lydiate provides his Wales team-mates with beef and eggs from the farm in mid-Wales.

He eulogises over Clarkson’s Farm and the positive promotion Jeremy Clarkson has given to British farming.

Lydiate is all too aware it’s a time of huge uncertainty in both rugby and agriculture.

Just a few months ago he was told there was no job for him at the Ospreys despite his impressive form and place in the Wales squad due to the country’s rugby financial woes.

‘In my earlier rugby career I probably romanticised about being a farmer,’ Lydiate says.

‘It’s been a massive eye opener. I’ve put a lot of my money into setting up the businesses on the farm with the cattle and chickens.

‘Managing a business is difficult with what’s happening with the cost-of-living crisis and the war in Ukraine. Farming costs like feed, fertiliser and other things are spiralling.

At present the main focus for Lydiate is on Wales rather than his club career

Warren Gatland’s players are working hard at an altitude training camp in Fiesch

Despite the difficulties that he has gone through Lydiate says he feels like he’s in a good space

‘You’re looking at the bank balance thinking “Jesus, this is pretty hard graft.” I won’t delve too deeply into what’s going on in Welsh rugby at the minute but that’s also all over the place.

‘It’s like jumping out of one fire into another! A lot of people say if you can survive the bad times, you’ll see the good ones. That’s what I’m planning on anyway!

‘It was frustrating going from last summer and last autumn where I was starting for Wales to then not having a contract. It wasn’t through bad performances either. It was just down to the climate we’re in and unfortunately, there are still boys in that position.

‘I was lucky the Dragons gave a young mid-Walian farming boy a chance all those years ago and now they’ve given an old mid-Walian farming boy another one! I’m grateful for that.’

The Dragons offered Lydiate a club deal but the World Cup is his focus for now.

Gatland’s players are working hard at an altitude training camp in Fiesch as they look to put a difficult season behind them.

Lydiate is no stranger to parking past miseries and looking to the future.

Playing in the World Cup in memory of his father remains a driving force even though his wife Nia is expecting their third child in September while the tournament will be on.

‘It feels like you’re spinning plates at times with rugby and farming, but hopefully it will only be this busy once in my lifetime so it’s a case of making hay while the sun shines,’ Lydiate says.

‘But I feel like I’m in a good space. If it was easy, I guess everyone would be doing it!

‘I’m not afraid of hard graft and if that’s one of the things that it takes to be successful in rugby and then in a post-rugby career, hopefully I’ll be OK.’

Follow MailSport on Threads here: https://www.threads.net/@mailsport