After touring with Wales in the Summer, backrower Dan Lydiate gave us his thoughts on being back involved with the National side.
“It was brilliant to be back in the Welsh setup for the Summer tour to South Africa. Obviously I didn’t expect to be called up but when Wayne gave me a call and asked if I was good to go it’s clearly something you don’t turn down.
“From day one getting back in the with the squad, having everyone working hard to achieve the same goal and being with a good bunch of people on tour it was just a great experience. How well you get on off the field always translates to how well you play for each other on it. You could see the fight in the squad, if teams were breaking us, boys were busting back to make sure they didn’t score against us. Everyone who was on that tour says how good the bunch of people who were on it were.
“It’s always a massive honour to wear that jersey and come away with three more caps to my name. Getting a test win down there was huge. We were all disappointed how the last game went in terms of result but to pick up that victory and claim the first test win in South Africa in Welsh history is pretty special and something that can’t be taken away from us.
“Competition for places in the back-row is massive not only at the Ospreys but in Wales too. It’s a good headache for the coaches to have. They’ll all be watching our games week in week out and picking on form. You can’t look too far ahead, and you just have to concentrate on the job in hand. If you’re playing well, you’re putting your hand up for selection but then a player in the same position as you could also be playing well and putting his hand up for selection. You just have to concentrate on yourself and what will be will be.”