He’s been described as the quiet guy in the background, but Sean Lonsdale could come to the fore in Welsh rugby in the new season, believes Shane Williams.
Educated at an independent school in Colwyn Bay and with a Welsh mother, the lock who’s joined the Dragons from Exeter Chiefs is the celebrated former wing’s tip to be Wales’ World Cup bolter.
Three of Wales’ second-row spots for France look taken even at this stage, with Adam Beard, Will Rowlands and Alun Wyn Jones fancied to claim them. But who fills the fourth is much more open, assuming Pivac takes a quartet of tall boys to the global showpiece next year.
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The 6ft 5in Lonsdale, who shared in Exeter’s Gallagher Premiership and Heineken Champions Cup-winning double of 2019-20, is a player to keep an eye on. He’s one of two engine-room signings the Dragons have made for the coming season, with George Nott from London Irish the other.
Writing in The Rugby Paper, Williams says: “Lonsdale and Nott arrive in Newport with a huge amount of Gallagher Premiership experience behind them, and are Wales-qualified.
“They are two no-nonsense locks who love to graft, and relish the physical confrontation, which is probably why Dean Ryan signed them.
“If you assess Wales’ second-row stocks they are looking very light, especially after a few injuries so I imagine Wayne Pivac will be happy to have them playing in Wales.
“I’ve been impressed with what I’ve seen from Lonsdale at Exeter, and he’s my World Cup bolter.”
The Manchester-born Lonsdale came through at Rydal Penrhos School in Colwyn Bay, going on to feature for RGC 14014 and helping them to promotion to the Welsh Premiership in 2015-16. His potential was spotted by Exeter team boss Rob Baxter, who signed him for the following campaign, notwithstanding the efforts of RGC and the Welsh Rugby Union to keep him in Wales. You can read more about him here.
Baxter and his Sandy Park coaches then started the process of shining up their acquisition from Wales, with Lonsdale developing into a reliable and hard-hitting option at lock and in the back row. He made close on 50 Premiership appearances for the Devonians, proving more than a bit useful with his versatility and application.
Assessing his strengths, Exeter forwards coach Rob Hunter previously said: "Sean is a clever bloke and clever rugby player. He's a stop tackler, so when he hits people they stay hit.
"He does glue the team together a little bit and there's always places for those sort of guys who do just glue things together. He makes the clear-outs, he's a very high numbers player. He's a good line-out jumper, he's bigger and stronger than you think when you get close to him and he's quicker than you think.
"He is very much the quiet guy in the background, but he does allow the people around him to play."
Lonsdale will need to hit the ground running and will have plenty of competition for the fourth lock spot in Pivac's panel from the likes of Ben Carter, Christ Tshiunza, Dafydd Jenkins and Seb Davies. His adaptability will help his cause, though, with Wales likely to be on the look-out for players who can play in more than one position, especially in the back five of their pack.
And the old saying suggests it never pays to underestimate a quiet man.
Let’s see how he fares.
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