Dan Lydiate: 'I'd be treated like a lump of meat if I left Wales'

The Newport-Gwent Dragons flanker Dan Lydiate says he is happy in Wales and is not interested in a move to France like some of his Wales team-mates such as Luke Charteris and Aled Brew.

"I'm treated really well at the Dragons... whereas, maybe if you went abroad you are just a lump of meat," Lydiate said yesterday. "We play hard but they [Dragons] know when you have your bumps and bruises, so if you have to miss a session they don't mind, as long as you put it in on the field.

"[But at a foreign club] it doesn't matter if you have bumps and bruises. They do pay handsomely, but they pay that well you have got to play."

Sale have signed the Australia international Cameron Shepherd and South African-born centre Corne Uys. Full-back Shepherd, 28, had agreed to join Northampton earlier this summer, but the Saints pulled out of the move because of fitness concerns.

"We hope to get him fully fit so he can make a big impact for this club," said new director of rugby, Bryan Redpath. Uys left Newcastle following their relegation from the Premiership.