Vastly experienced forward Dan Lydiate made the return to his first professional club and Rodney Parade in the Summer of 2023 signing for Dragons ahead of the 2023/2024 season. Lydiate played 85 times for the Men of Gwent between 2006 and 2013 – captaining the club on a number of occasions before a move to France, joining Racing 92. Lydiate made 19 appearances in just over a season in Paris befoe he joined the Ospreys in the Autumn of the 2014/2015 season. The hard tackling Lydiate spent nine seasons in Swansea making 91 appearances before making the move back home to Dragons.

The hugely talented and driven 35-year-old – who stands 6ft 4in tall and weighs 18st 1lbs - has won 69 caps for Wales, as of June 2023, during a glittering career and featured in both the 2011, 2015 Rugby World Cups and was recently named in the preliminary World Cup squad for Wales ahead of the 2023 edition. Lydiate’s first appearance for Wales came in November 2009 against Argentina at the Principality Stadium. He made his RBS Six Nations debut in 2011 and went onto make five appearances in that year’s Rugby World Cup in New Zealand.

He featured in four of the five fixtures in the 2012 RBS 6 Nations, helping Wales to a Grand Slam and among his many accolades the flanker was named Six Nations Player of the Championship and the Welsh Rugby Writers’ Player of the Year that same season. Lydiate was part of the British & Irish Lions squad that toured Australia in 2013, featuring in all three Tests as the Lions claimed a 2-1 series victory, the first series win in 16 years. He also captained the Lions on that tour.