Lydiate reveals Wales heartbreak after knee injury wrecks return

AS Wales were beating Ireland to record the first leg of the Triple Crown, Dan Lydiate was sat with his head in his hands in the home dressing room.

Having worked so hard to force his way back into the team after an absence of more than two years, he had ruptured his cruciate knee ligament just 10 minutes into his return.

It was a brutal blow for the 65-cap flanker, who now faces a lengthy spell out of the game following surgery.

He has been talking about that whole harrowing experience on the RugbyPass Offload podcast.

“I probably got more emotional driving into Cardiff for that Ireland game than I did for my first cap,” he recalled. It was like being called up for Wales for the first time. It was a bit mental.

“When the game started, the adrenalin was flying. There were a couple of big collisions early on and I was thinking ‘I am into this now, I just want to get after it.’”

Lydiate had made an immediate impression with a trademark big hit on Peter O’Mahony in the opening seconds, with other crunching tackles to follow.

But then disaster struck. “There was a kick-chase and I was trying to get after the ball,” said the 33-year-old.

“It felt like someone brushed against me and then my next step I just felt something snap in my knee.

“I was like ‘Jesus Christ, that’s not good.’ Then the pain hit. The medics ran on and they were testing for stability in my knee.

“There was sort of shock, so my muscles weren’t allowing my knee to move. I was saying ‘It doesn’t feel too bad, let me stand up.’ I put weight on it and I could stand.

“So I was like ‘Let’s strap it up and see if I can run it off,’ the old classic!

“I probably should have come off straight away, but I had been 10 minutes into the jersey from being two years out from the Welsh team.

“I was thinking ‘I can’t go off now, I’ve worked so hard for this.’”

However, Lydiate was soon forced to admit defeat.

“We had a scrum, Ireland exited and the medics were running on again because they had watched the replay back and seen my knee had just obliterated,” he said.

“As the team doctor came on, I put more weight on my leg and it just buckled right in front of him. He said ‘Look, you’ve got to come off.’

“So, it was the old shepherd’s crook.

“As I hobbled off the field, every step then my knee was just giving way. I went straight down the tunnel and I just stayed in the changing room for the whole game then, head in hands.

“I didn’t know what happened until the end of the match.”

It was a sad conclusion to what had been such a happy homecoming for Lydiate, recalled to the Wales squad by coach Wayne Pivac some 27 months after his last cap.

His consistent excellence for the Ospreys had demanded selection and it became immediately apparent he was not just there to make up the numbers.

“Literally, as soon as I walked into the team room, Wayne made a beeline for me and said ‘Welcome Dan, can I have a word?’” he reveals.

“So we sat down and he just made me feel really welcome.

“He said ‘Look, I haven’t picked you at your age to be a bag holder.’

“He said ‘Just bring what you’ve been bringing in your club rugby. We want to get the best out of you and you are here to do a job.’

“For the two weeks I was with the Welsh camp, I was loving it.”