Lydiate to leave Newport

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/20607179

Newport Gwent Dragons have confirmed flanker Dan Lydiate will leave at the end of the season to join an undisclosed European team.

Lydiate's contract expires at the end of the current season and he has been linked with several French clubs.

Dragons director of rugby Rob Beale said they had done all they could to keep the 24-year-old at Rodney Parade.

"We are obviously very disappointed that Danny has decided to leave the Dragons," Beale said.

"He has been a key part of our set up for several years and is popular with both the players and the coaches.

"I can assure our supporters that we did all that we could to retain Dan's services but we simply cannot compete with the offers which have been put on the table."

Lydiate made his Dragons debut in 2006 and overcame a serious neck injury the following year to establish himself as a Wales regular.

He was named 2012 Six Nations player of the tournament but missed the recent autumn Test series after fracturing his ankle in the Dragons' win over Edinburgh in the Pro12 in September.

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Thats great news. Playing at a higher standard of rugby than the Rabo can only improve his game for Wales. Lydiate will be a star wherever he goes

The higher standard of rugby won't be an Pontypridd that's for sure.

Dragons have seen the light, between 6N, AI, World Cup and injuries he isn't worth the money they are spending on him, sadly.

Will be missed on the squad list. A cracking player.

Vince,

I think its got nothing to do with the money they are spending on him and more to do with Danny wanting to challenge himself at the highest level and by that I mean the HC.

I have said all along that the Amlin is our correct level but that in itself brings problems with the likes of Lydiate and Faletau needing to compete at the highest level.

"Playing at a higher standard of rugby than the Rabo can only improve his game for Wales"

There isn't a lower standard of Rugby in the Rabo than anywhere else, its a myth. Leaving Dragons is a step up mind you even to move to Connacht.

So France or England? and where does this leave the Dragons? Without Welsh internationals, will crowds drop.

For most teams when then are down there is a hope that things will turn round, that they are building for the future bring good young players through ready to progress, but for Dragons fans it must feel that there is no light at th eend of the tunnel, losing the top players, losing most games, not to many players coming through, just surviving each season, not pushing on.

It must be a grim time to be a Dragons fan, are there any positives at present? Stadium is good, and match day experience would still be good, if Dragons could win more of the home games the crowds should stay.

I don't agree with some Welsh views that its better for players to move abroad, off the wage bill, to leave room for a younger player to take thier place. This attitude will never see the regions win anything, when was there ever a team that one something with no international players? You need to be keeping the best players to have the best teams. If the regions are just for development, the crowds will drop the intrest will drop and the game will die.

Where does this leave Wales though?

Playing at a club where he wont be released for rest weekends, training camps, extra AIs etc and where his peak fitness will be geared toward the domestic rather than international season.

Have Hook, Phillips, Jenkins, Byrne and Henson become better players for Wales by moving abroad?

I am hoping that the new set up being put in place between the WRU and the regions will halt, and reverse this trend. I for one don't agree with saying that it is better for the player and Wales to play in France.

Kingshu makes some very valid points. The regions will never survive let alone be successful if all the best players leave and are replaced by journeymen foreign players who have no bond with the region.

I want to see the likes of Hook, Henson, Lydiate, Roberts, Charteris,Peel, Powell, Brew, Gethin, Paul James etc playing in Wales. Just imagine how much better the Blues or Dragons would be with those players in there.

The youngsters coming through would then come in to an environment of excellence not mediocrity which further raises the bar.

The Rabo is potentially a great league but I think the Welsh regions are key to making that the case. The Irish already have all their best players playing for them and are well managed and looked after. Wales needs nothing less.

Maybe one of the other Regions will get him or if not hopefully he will go to France as their teams seem more open to deals for release of players.

As for making individuals better players well it worked for Alfie and Wellies when they went whilst Hook, Byrne and Charteris seem to be doing quite well.

Phillips and Jenkins have suffered as for Henson well god knows.

Real shame he's leaving Wales. I thought given his farming background and the fact he stills works on his family farm might have been enough to keep him in Wales at least. Shame for Dragons especially, but as VinceWLB says, he'll be missing a lot of time with internaitonal duty.

Best of luck to him in France/wherever he goes. Cracking player.

Thank god he is going to France and not England so we can actually get him for International training camps and games outside the IRB window.

I'll be sad to see him go, but I don't begrudge him the move. Like all players, he wants to play for a club that wins more games than it loses, that is pushing for honours. That's why I hate this idea of central / dual contracts tying Welsh internationals to the regions. Why should they have to suffer playing in poor sides?

but Luckless Pedestrian would they be poor sides if they kept thier top players?

Would Dragons be 2nd from bottom if they had kept Aled Brew, Luke Charteris, Jason Tovey and Martyn Thomas?

With Lydiate joining the growing exodus of Welsh players abroad, our Welsh Exiles team looks stronger than anything our regions can produce. Such a shame these players aren't plying their trade in Wales.

1) Gethin Jenkins (Toulon)
2) Huw Bennett (Lyon)
3) Eifion Lewis Roberts (Sale)
4) Luke Chateris (Perpignan)
5) Dominic Day (Bath)
5) 6) Gareth Delve (Melbourne Rebels)
7) Dan Lydiate (TBC)
8) Andy Powell (Sale)
9)Mike Phillips (Bayonne)
10)James Hook (Perpignan)
11) Aled Brew (Biarritz)
12) Jamie Roberts (TBC)
13) Gavin Henson (L Welsh)
14) Shane Williams (Mitsubishi Dynaboars)
15) Lee Byrne (Clemornt)

16) Rhys Gill (Saracens)
17) Craig Mitchell (Exeter Chiefs)
18) Rhys Thomas (Wasps)
19) Nicky Robinson (Wasps)
20) Dwayne Peel (Sale)
21) Stephen Jones (Wasps)
22) Nick McCleod (Sale)
23)Paul James (Bath)

also got boys like Lee Thomas (Wasps),Martin Roberts (Saints) Martyn Thomas (Gloucester) Steven Shingler ( L Irish) Cai Griffiths ( L Irish) D Allison (L Irish) J Yapp ( Edingburgh) Richie Rees (Edingburgh)James Goode (Newcastle Falcons)

The more I look at the Welsh exodus, the more I shiver at the thought of what might be if we in Ireland didn't have a more controlled inducement system here to keep best players in Ireland. French and English clubs would be hoovering them up.

This is not good for Welsh rugby and someone with some bloody sense (and a blasted disregard for the in-fighting history that seems to be behind many of the issues between WRU, Regions and old clubs) needs to find a way to help these players make the choice to stay.

The sad thing is most Dragons fans expected this news. We all know ourselves that as a team we can't retain anyone with any quality. We have been rebuilding for 10 years!

I wish Dan the best of luck but I agree with others, it does only waeken the regions if all the internationals leave and ther knowledge and skills are not passed ontot he younger players.

By "European club", I think that we can all safely read that to say "French".

Obviously Racing Metro have agreed not to treat him like a piece of meat. Good luck to him. Dragons haven't seen the best out of him in the games he's been available anyway, what with his ankle injury (before the break). I'm happy enough with what we have for backrow options, even without Faletau too.

Steffan, as an aside (and as you decided to be childish with your Newport title) how are "Valleys" Rugby coming on? Seems to have gone a bit quiet

George Carlin wrote:By "European club", I think that we can all safely read that to say "French".

Or another way of saying rival regions assisted by the WRU (or the new body whatever they are called), and we can't say who so that the press can speculate about how bad things are, and the the WRU (or this new body) can claim to have saved the day and made Lydiate sign for a welsh region.

I wouldn't be surprised if it came out he'd moved to the Blues or Scarlets. I do think it'll be Racing though. Good luck to him.

Do the Dragons have another young flanker to take that spot?

Peter Seabiscuit Wheeler wrote:Where does this leave Wales though?

Playing at a club where he wont be released for rest weekends, training camps, extra AIs etc and where his peak fitness will be geared toward the domestic rather than international season.

Have Hook, Phillips, Jenkins, Byrne and Henson become better players for Wales by moving abroad?

Hook, definitely yes. Charteris - only been in France a couple of months, so too early to say. Henson was only at Toulon for a nanosecond, so irrelevant. Phillips seems to be poor for Bayonne, as he was previously for the Os, getting dropped in his last season. Jenkins - no game time, so obviously not. Brew - seems to be doing OK and hopefully will push on. Byrne is playing for one of France's top teams and doing well by most accounts.

The French league has high-quality, entertaining rugby, played mostly on firm grounds in the South, in front of substantial crowds. It works for the Argentinians and Samoans and it may well work for guys like Lydiate, Biggar etc.

I think all Welsh fans would agree Stephen Jones and Gareth Thomas improved greatly during their time in France.

Back home in the Rabo we have a vicious circle. Lack of public support means weak economic basis which means star players leave which means no success in HC etc. which means lack of public support.

Kingshu wrote:but Luckless Pedestrian would they be poor sides if they kept thier top players?

Would Dragons be 2nd from bottom if they had kept Aled Brew, Luke Charteris, Jason Tovey and Martyn Thomas?

They had all those players last year. They were better than this year, but still far from the kind of team that could satisfy ambitious professional sportsmen.

samuraidragon wrote:

Kingshu wrote:but Luckless Pedestrian would they be poor sides if they kept thier top players?

Would Dragons be 2nd from bottom if they had kept Aled Brew, Luke Charteris, Jason Tovey and Martyn Thomas?

They had all those players last year. They were better than this year, but still far from the kind of team that could satisfy ambitious professional sportsmen.

I would say that Aled Brew was a big loss, but Tom Prydie his replacement on the wing/full back is proving very ample. He's the leagues top points scorer at the moment. Charteris - yes, big loss. Tovey - not a big loss. Wasn't great for us, and can't get a game for the blues. Patchwell has already leapfrogged him. They've even been playing Sweeney! Martyn Thomas? Dan Evans looks to be a better player as his replacement.

However, the challenge would be to keep the originals and have the others in the squad. Then we might do well. We've got no depth so if we had the originals and the replacements there we'd be able to rotate and not lose much class. Our back ups are seriously lacking.

GeordieFalcon wrote:Do the Dragons have another young flanker to take that spot?

Still got Lewis Evans and will probably bring through promising 19 year old Ieuan Jones. Lacking 7 cover though I think.

I Jones is going to be a very good play. Along with Amos and Dixon we have three playes who should all push on to international honnors...
Then they will leave and we can get excited about the next batch.


On a separate note, any news on Adam Hughes? Apparently he has a hip injury but he's tweeted "back for another MRI scan" can't the dragons give us some real info on his injury. Could have pushed for honnors this season if he had some ball.

Sad for the Dragons, hand on heart I'm really starting to wonder what is the point in the WRU giving them the level of funding they do.

What exactly are they doing to keep hold of their best players? Time and time again their assets are stripped and their sliding more and more every year towards the bottom of the Rabo direct.

Their entitled to an equal share of any competition bonuses won by the other regions, including European monies etc, yet to nothing to deserve it.

Shifty/Alyn Davies, you could say that about all of the regions. Let's slash the Blues' money as they couldn't keep hold of Roberts. Let's slash the Ospreys as they couldn't keep hold of Hook or Phillips or Byrne. Even Shane had to pretend to retire to get away. Penalising a team for not being able to keep hold of players who are free to move around is not going to help anyone.

Really though, what is there to keep them here? We're offering as much money as we can. The Blues offered Roberts as much as they could. Would have made him the highest paid player in Wales. If that doesnt interest them then what else have we got in wales? We haven't got the lifestyle, weather or scenery to offer, so if money doesn't work then we're stuffed. Therefore, how is cutting the regions funding as punishment for not trapping a player going to help?

Shifty wrote:Sad for the Dragons, hand on heart I'm really starting to wonder what is the point in the WRU giving them the level of funding they do.

What exactly are they doing to keep hold of their best players? Time and time again their assets are stripped and their sliding more and more every year towards the bottom of the Rabo direct.

Their entitled to an equal share of any competition bonuses won by the other regions, including European monies etc, yet to nothing to deserve it.

Honestly just when I thought I couldn't read anything more daft on the internet, there's this. Typically, it's from an O's supporter who thinks that scrapping the Dragons so his own region can have a few extra quid to carry on their pretense of being a top European team for another season or two. For the hard of thinking, the WRU don't give the regions a penny, they pay them for agreeing to sign the participation agreement, the terms of which the Dragons follow as closely as the other regions, if not more. The remainder is TV money earned by fulfilling fixtures. It is money earned by the Dragons that would evaporate a bit sharpish if they were folded. Do you honestly think the Beeb will pay the same money for less sport to televise?

Risca Rev wrote:I wouldn't be surprised if it came out he'd moved to the Blues or Scarlets.

If that turns out to be the case, and it emerges that the WRU gave the Blues or the Scarlets extra money so that they could afford to sign him, then that would be a disgrace. It would also give the lie to one of the 'objectives' they announced yesterday, namely to have four regions competing at the highest level in Europe.

can't see him coming to the scarlets as we already have 3 blindsides in turnbull, shingler and mccusker. he was suppose to be looking for a house in pontyberem (by llanelli) as his partner is from the area. but really can't see him signing for us. think his likely destination will be france, but wouldn't be surprised if he ended up at the blues.

Stone Motif wrote:

Shifty wrote:Sad for the Dragons, hand on heart I'm really starting to wonder what is the point in the WRU giving them the level of funding they do.

What exactly are they doing to keep hold of their best players? Time and time again their assets are stripped and their sliding more and more every year towards the bottom of the Rabo direct.

Their entitled to an equal share of any competition bonuses won by the other regions, including European monies etc, yet to nothing to deserve it.

Honestly just when I thought I couldn't read anything more daft on the internet, there's this. Typically, it's from an O's supporter who thinks that scrapping the Dragons so his own region can have a few extra quid to carry on their pretense of being a top European team for another season or two. For the hard of thinking, the WRU don't give the regions a penny, they pay them for agreeing to sign the participation agreement, the terms of which the Dragons follow as closely as the other regions, if not more. The remainder is TV money earned by fulfilling fixtures. It is money earned by the Dragons that would evaporate a bit sharpish if they were folded. Do you honestly think the Beeb will pay the same money for less sport to televise?

+1 TV money will not be an increased split between 3 regions than it is with 4. The TV companies will just fund it less.

pioden gorllewin wrote:can't see him coming to the scarlets as we already have 3 blindsides in turnbull, shingler and mccusker. he was suppose to be looking for a house in pontyberem (by llanelli) as his partner is from the area. but really can't see him signing for us. think his likely destination will be france, but wouldn't be surprised if he ended up at the blues.

The Blues, who are barely doing any better than the Dragons?

Why not amalgamate all the Regions into one super team for the HC?
That would shut the Franglos up at about spot hogging at least.

What if he signed for Connacht?

Or any of the Irish provinces for that matter?

luckless: Only reason why I wouldn't be surprised if he ended up at the Blues is they have investors like John Smart, Peter Thomas etc would could finance the deal. Also moving to the Blues would still allow him to have an involvment on his family farm, which he seems passionate about. But like I said I think his probable destination would be France.

pioden gorllewin wrote:luckless: Only reason why I wouldn't be surprised if he ended up at the Blues is they have investors like John Smart, Peter Thomas etc would could finance the deal.

They played a blinder in keeping Doc Jaw at the Blues didn't they? Fair do's.

Pioden, if the Blues managed to finance a deal by themselves, then I wouldn't have a problem (although I'd ask why, as 50% owners of the Dragons, the WRU couldn't find the money to keep him at Dave Parade). If, however, the Blues get help from the WRU to sign him, I'll be beyond furious.

Luckless: 100% agree with you, and can see why you'd be upset if that was the case.

Stone: Did think of Jamie, when writing my response. However they are two different circumstances I believe (might be wrong) Jamie has/will recently qualified from his medical studies in Cardiff, and being young free and single has no ties keeping him in Cardiff. Lydiate is slightly different as his partner teaches in Wales, and he has ties to his family farm. He might consider accepting terms say 20% less that what is on offer in France to say in Wales. This is all hypothetical though, and as I said I think his likely destination will be over the English Channel.

As most suspected he is leaving a sinking ship but I am taken back he is leaving the Welsh set up, there again he has his fair share of injuries and what he will get paid could more than fund help on the farm.

I thought Dan would join the Blues one way or another or replace one of the aging back row players at the Ospreys. I wish Dan luck (he deserves it) and help bankrupt a French club so we can play on a level playing field sometime in the future.

Griff wrote:Shifty/Alyn Davies, you could say that about all of the regions. Let's slash the Blues' money as they couldn't keep hold of Roberts. Let's slash the Ospreys as they couldn't keep hold of Hook or Phillips or Byrne. Even Shane had to pretend to retire to get away. Penalising a team for not being able to keep hold of players who are free to move around is not going to help anyone.

Really though, what is there to keep them here? We're offering as much money as we can. The Blues offered Roberts as much as they could. Would have made him the highest paid player in Wales. If that doesnt interest them then what else have we got in wales? We haven't got the lifestyle, weather or scenery to offer, so if money doesn't work then we're stuffed. Therefore, how is cutting the regions funding as punishment for not trapping a player going to help?

To be fair to the other region we are at least in the hunt to keep our best players. The Ospreys still have Ryan Bevington, Hibbard, Adam Jones, Ian Evans, AWJ, Ryan Jones, Tipuric, Webb, Biggar, Beck, etc. Who have all been in recent Welsh squads. Yes we let a few players go to balance the books but we still have a capable first xv. The Dragons dont seem to be able to compete at all for their own players.

Truth be told if the WRU give the regions £3.5m then that £3.5m should be used to pay their top 38 players, the Dragons use their money on other things and use £2.5m on their playing budget.

Shifty wrote:

Griff wrote:Shifty/Alyn Davies, you could say that about all of the regions. Let's slash the Blues' money as they couldn't keep hold of Roberts. Let's slash the Ospreys as they couldn't keep hold of Hook or Phillips or Byrne. Even Shane had to pretend to retire to get away. Penalising a team for not being able to keep hold of players who are free to move around is not going to help anyone.

Really though, what is there to keep them here? We're offering as much money as we can. The Blues offered Roberts as much as they could. Would have made him the highest paid player in Wales. If that doesnt interest them then what else have we got in wales? We haven't got the lifestyle, weather or scenery to offer, so if money doesn't work then we're stuffed. Therefore, how is cutting the regions funding as punishment for not trapping a player going to help?

To be fair to the other region we are at least in the hunt to keep our best players. The Ospreys still have Ryan Bevington, Hibbard, Adam Jones, Ian Evans, AWJ, Ryan Jones, Tipuric, Webb, Biggar, Beck, etc. Who have all been in recent Welsh squads. Yes we let a few players go to balance the books but we still have a capable first xv. The Dragons dont seem to be able to compete at all for their own players.

Truth be told if the WRU give the regions £3.5m then that £3.5m should be used to pay their top 38 players, the Dragons use their money on other things and use £2.5m on their playing budget.

Should we be penalised even when we don't get a fair selection opportunity? For one. Jon Evans is in better form than Webb, Prydie better than Robinson and Evans better than a few more backs. Shall we cut Cement Head's funding, as he can't pick a tidy squad?

Shifty wrote:
Truth be told if the WRU give the regions £3.5m then that £3.5m should be used to pay their top 38 players, the Dragons use their money on other things and use £2.5m on their playing budget.

Sigh. What is so hard to understand about this. The WRU do not give us £3.5m, that is money we earn from the tv contract. We can spend it all on a big sign that says 'why are all Ospreys fans so feckin obtuse' if we wanted to.

No matter how good DL is, i wouldn't want him at the blues...Navidi all the way