The Ospreys flanker skippered Warren Gatland’s men against England at Twickenham in their final outing before heading to face the world champions.
It was a proud moment for the 28-year-old, but his afternoon was ended early after suffering shoulder and hamstring problems that would end his season early.
Now, after a summer of diligent rehab work, the tough-tackling blindside it itching for a return to action as the Ospreys target a return to the Guinness Pro12 play-off places.
“I don’t have a definite date yet but I am hoping it will be some time in September. It should not be too long, it is going well and I am happy with that,” he said.
“It was a bad time to do my hamstring and shoulder on the same day. I have had a shoulder issue for a while and I went into contact and then realised something was wrong, then a few minutes later I went for a tackle, slipped and my hamstring went.
“I had to come off because I couldn’t run, but after the game I couldn’t lift my arm so they sent me for a scan and it came up I needed an AC reconstruction. I had played on, but clearly I wouldn’t have made the tour just because of the hamstring.
“Now I am concentrating on getting back fit, that is what I am training towards. I started lifting weights a couple of weeks ago, I am building my strength, doing my running and starting to progress into contact. The physios are happy, I am happy and I am just waiting to get back out there.”
The Ospreys finished last season in eighth position, missing out on qualification for the European Champions Cup. Lydiate is confident of a better showing this time round, and has been impressed by what he has seen of new defence coach Brad Davis.
“We need to have a better season than last year, we had a good run towards the end but I don’t think our defence was where it should have been,” he said.
“Brad Davis has come in from Wasps and he has shaken things up a lot. It has been a learning curve for us all, but he brings a lot of energy and focus and I am looking forward to working with him.
“We want to win things, and to do that you have to get to the play-offs, once you do that it is knock-out rugby and you have a chance. My first year here we got to the semis, I would like to play in a final and we want to get back to the heights the region has been at before.
“Having a good start helps, it sets you up for the season. We had a poor start last year and were playing catch-up. We want to do better this time.”
