The small ex-Wales U20s captain proving a big URC hit

Former Wales Under-20s captain Harry Beddall is punching above his weight for Dragons after impressively making the step up to the United Rugby Championship (URC).

The open-side flanker arrived at Rodney Parade last summer from Leicester and the initial plan was to bed him in gently in Super Rygbi Cymru with Ebbw Vale.

However, the 21-year-old from Cardiff has made seven senior outings, five of them starts, and produced a remarkable defensive display at Munster last weekend.

The official URC stats recorded 33 tackles by Beddall in the 22-20 loss in Cork, as Dragons came agonisingly close to a huge upset.

The 5ft 10in (1.78m), 14st 11lb (93.9kg) flanker is ranked 15th in the league tackle chart on 99 despite only featuring in six of 10 rounds.

"He started to make it so hard not to pick him. He is phenomenal and a great talent with a great attitude," said Dragons defence coach Dale MacLeod.

"I have never seen someone with such survivor skills. No matter where he is, whether squashed or held down, he fights to get up and to the next tackle."

Beddall's appetite for defence comes as no surprise after his efforts when captaining Wales in the 2025 Under-20 Six Nations.

He topped the tournament tackle chart with 109 in five fixtures, including 34 in the backs-to-the-wall win against Ireland in the Rodney Parade rain.

Beddall arrived at Dragons with limited senior experience after a solitary Premiership Cup appearance for Leicester and some outings for Hartpury University RFC in the English Championship.

The flanker is proving to be cut from the same cloth as Rodney Parade cult hero Nic Cudd, another 5ft 10in (1.78m) open-side that mixed it with the heavy hitters.

"We talked about 'Bedds' at the start of the season and how we would give him a little bit of a taste because he is only a young man," said MacLeod.

"He got an opportunity because of some injuries and then went out and made something like 20 tackles.Then he went out and made 29.

"Bedds is like a dynamo and he plays bigger than he is. He is so accurate around collisions and his chop tackling."

Dragons, who take on Ospreys in Bridgend on Saturday (19:45 GMT) have also picked Thomas Young, Harri Keddie and Shane Lewis-Hughes in the seven jersey this season.

Beddall, the club's lightest forward, has profited from learning from the senior back-row forwards – and now has them sweating on their starting spots.

"He is very coachable with a want to get better," said MacLeod. "He takes nothing for granted, he keeps working on his action plan and is really clear about how he is going to get there.

"He rips into it and has been a real find. Some of the older boys are looking behind because he is not just turning up but he's fronting up."