FORMER Newport Gwent Dragons star Dan Lydiate says Wales are back in with a shot at the Six Nations title after going through the pain barrier to claim victory in Paris.

Lydiate was battered and bruised after the 20-13 win at the Stade de France, which puts Warren Gatland’s men in with a chance of snatching the trophy from the grasp of England or Ireland.

And, with the Irish coming to Cardiff on March 14, Lydiate believes that Wales have recovered from the opening day defeat to England and are starting to build the kind of momentum that saw them win the championship in 2013.

“We’re back in with a shot,” said the 27-year-old, who is now at the Ospreys after a short spell in the French capital with Racing Metro.

“It’s a lot more positive after this game than it was after the first game. We’re back in the hunt.

“We got a result in Scotland and we the win over France gets the ball rolling again.

“There are some hugely tired bodies after that performance. But it’s a lot better feeling when you win, getting up in the morning with your aches and pains, than when you lose.

“It was a bit of a slug fest but it was brilliant,” he added. “Sometimes you put that much effort in and don’t get the result, so to get the result for the team was brilliant.

“It’s a really hard place to come and win. I didn’t play here two years ago when the boys won.

“The last time I played here we got battered and that wasn’t a good feeling.

“This result is brilliant and the boys are really chuffed.”

Lydiate played a key part in setting up Dan Biggar’s first try for Wales with a neat reverse pass for his Ospreys teammate to launch a diagonal run for the corner on the hour.

“I got on the end of a pass and shipped it along as best I could,” he said of his impressive handling.

“I was keeping it for a rainy day, when needs must! I’ve said I want to work on my handling and it was just a pass that came off.

“But it’s more about the team performance. The defence at times was heroic, the way we dug in it the end.

“Defence is my main thing and seeing the boys put their bodies on the line time and again was really pleasing.

“It’s nice to get praised but we know where we are as a team and we are not the finished article by any means,” he added.

“We’ll get back to the drawing board this week, keep our heads down and look forward to the next one.

“We are not going to get ahead of ourselves, but we are pleased with the result.”