"I think his best years are behind him" - Stephen Ferris on Dan Lydiate

Former Ulster and Ireland back rower Stephen Ferris is not concerned by the return of Dan Lydiate.

Lydiate has been recalled to the Wales squad and is on track to start for Wales for the first time 2018. Dan Lydiate, Justin Tipuric and Taulupe Faletau rumoured to start a test together for the first time since 2016 against Ireland this weekend.

Speaking on RTÉ's Game On, former Ireland international Stephen Ferris said that he does not believe that Lydiate can offer anything that will trouble Andy Farrell's side.

"I'm not sure about Dan Lydiate to be honest, I think his best years are behind him and I wouldn’t have any bother saying that to his face. 

"He’s been an exceptional player for Wales and for the Lions over the years. Yes he does offer something different, but running around, diving at people’s feet will only get you so far. 

"He’s not a particularly good ball carrier, he isn’t particularly good in the lineout, I haven’t seen enough of a work rate out of him when he’s been playing club rugby and he hasn’t worn an international jersey for a while.

"Maybe he’s going to offer something different that Wayne Pivac and his coaching team are looking at, I’m not so sure but I’ll be very interested to see if he starts. 

"If he does start, if I was CJ Stander or Will Connors or whoever’s going to start in the back row, I’d be licking my lips to be honest with you." 

Lydiate's former back row partner Sam Warburton had a vastly contrasting view when Lydiate was named in the Wales squad.

“I am so pleased Wales have selected Dan for their Six Nations squad,” he wrote 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.

“I know 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 Pieter-Steph Du Toit proved this in the last World Cup. He won World Player of the Year and I remember thinking then that the No 6 is coming back.”