Dan Lydiate reveals why he was so emotional in Welsh rugby video that's gone viral

Dan Lydiate is usually a pretty placid individual. But sport does funny things to a man.

The Welsh Rugby Union posted a clip on social media last weekend, which showed the reaction of the bench when the final whistle was blown in Bloemfontein, confirming a first ever Welsh victory over the Springboks on South African soil.

Front and centre was a pumped up Lydiate. Such an explosion of raw emotion is a little out of character. It's difficult to describe, but he articulates it as best he can.

"If you could bottle that feeling and sell it you would not have to work again," he smiles.

"It is hard to put into words, until you are in that moment. It is not just that moment in time, it's what you have worked for as a kid with all those sessions you have done that nobody has seen.

"It's every ounce of your being that you have put into your career and then it's an instant reward as that final whistle goes."

Lydiate adds: "I guess it is like a drug, although I have never done drugs before!

"You can't compare it to anything else. I am passionate about farming but it's completely different! The only other thing you get that much emotion out of is family with your kids and your wife and things like that.

"It is difficult to compare, it's apples and pears, but in the same breath it's all intertwined because they sacrifice a lot for what you do as well."

The emotions are amplified for Lydiate. He was brought back in from the Test wilderness in 2021, only to suffer a serious knee injury early in his return. Questions over whether his Test career was over were valid.

So it makes the highs even higher.

He continues: "Being here has definitely given me a new lease of life. I'm craving that buzz and sometimes that buzz can be few and