Lydiate is exactly what Wales team needs insists Sam
Build-up To 2021 Six naTionS championShip
SAM WARBURTON says his old back row pal Dan Lydiate is exactly what Wales need goling into the Six Nations.
Lions flanker Lydiate has been recalled to Wayne Pivac’s Championship squad more than two years on from winning the last of his 64 caps.
The 33-year-old is very much in the frame for a starting spot on the blindside in next Sunday’s tournament opener against Ireland at the Principality Stadium, especially with rival Josh Navidi having only just returned from four months out with concussion.
Warburton, who was part of Pivac’s back-room team for just under a year, has revealed the Kiwi coach has been looking for a big hitter.
Ospreys star Lydiate clearly fits that bill, being renowned as one of the most destructive defenders in world rugby.
But Warburton also feels he has developed his ballcarrying game, something he always encouraged him to do when they were teammates.
“I am so pleased Wales have selected Dan for their Six Nations squad,” he writes in his Times column.
“I say that, not just because he is a good friend and close former team-mate, but also because he is exactly what this Wales team needs right now.
“They have been lacking a hitter, someone who can alter the momentum of a game with a huge tackle.
“I know from my time in the Wales camp as a coach that they have been searching for someone who can do that. Let’s be honest, this selection proves nobody has been able to do it like Dan can.
“He has obviously been playing well for the Ospreys, but he has been doing that for a long time.
“He will have been reading articles that say he’s playing well again and he will have been saying, ‘I’ve been making 20-plus tackles a game for the last three years!’
“The No 6, a traditional blind-side flanker who is a destructive tackler and grafter, is coming back into Test rugby. I’m not sure it has ever gone away, despite the preference for two No 7s for some time, but the game went that way for a while because the breakdown battle became so fierce.
“But now the laws have been tweaked, or their application has at least, it is easier to win turnovers, so you don’t need two specialist open sides as much to chase those turnovers.
“South Africa’s PieterSteph Du Toit proved this in the last World Cup. He won World Player of the Year and I remember thinking then the No 6 is coming back.”
Two-times Lions skipper Warburton added: “The one thing Dan has done is to start carrying more. I always encouraged him to do this because he is such a naturally powerful and explosive athlete. I used to tell him, ‘Just get your hands on the ball, eye-ball someone, and run at them.’ He is doing that a lot more now.
“Another important point is this Wales changing room at the moment is fairly quiet. It needs more voices. Dan will provide a voice and a great deal of leadership.
“He is mellow off the pitch, but you should see him in the changing rooms just before a match. He will be screaming and revving people up. When he speaks he is so full of passion, emotion and aggression that any team will feed off that.
“I used to love it when he did that and I know Warren Gatland did. That is why Warren made him captain of the Lions against Melbourne Rebels in 2013.
“Anyone who has watched the DVD of that trip will know Dan got the boys together and just let rip in a hugely memorable oldschool rousing speech.
“You can’t have 15 players behaving like that, but the game is all about physical combat and it is emotional and you need players who can get the rest of the team into that zone with you.
“Your playmakers and decision-makers need to be a bit calmer, but there are probably ten guys in the team who need to hit the ground running with their physicality.”
Warburton believes Lydiate is just the man for the job next weekend.
“Wales are in a position where they cannot be thinking too much about the next World Cup,” he said. “They need to win games now. So next weekend against Ireland, a team who like to keep the ball, Dan will be ideal.
“Josh Navidi is back in the squad, but naturally going to be struggling for fitness and that is why they have quite rightly gone for Dan. “The respect he has worldwide is massive.
“I remember playing for Cardiff Blues against the Dragons when Dan was there and looking up to see who was in the defensive line, seeing him and dropping the ball because I had one eye on him. That is the effect he has.”