NEWPORT'S Matthew Dwyer is swapping the scrum for the saddle to raise funds for a military charity with an epic bike ride across America.

The Ospreys hooker, who is moving to Principality Premiership new boys Merthyr next season, is a lance sergeant in the Welsh Guards who has served in Afghanistan and Bosnia.

The 31-year-old from Newport has volunteered to be part of the eight-strong Team Endeavour group who will race 3,046 miles from San Diego to Washington on June 18.

It is billed as 'the world's toughest bike race' and teams, who share the workload, make the journey from the west coast to the east coast, cycling across 12 states and climbing over 170,000 vertical feet with a maximum of nine days to finish.

Dwyer was captain of the army rugby team and played in the front row for Pill Harriers and Pontypool before earning a contract with Worcester in 2009 then moving to the Liberty Stadium in 2011.

The Langstone native is happy to admit cycling doesn't come naturally to a front row forward but is ready to go through the pain barrier for a charity that raises money and awareness for families of the armed forces who are suffering through illness, hardship and poverty.

He said: "I only bought my first bike a few months ago and fitting in training has been quite hard because in rugby I need to keep the weight on in the front row!

"I've wanted to do an epic challenge for a while and saw that (former Wales back row forward) Alix Popham had done this.

"It's going to be a massive effort for us with a team of eight and riding on and off but it's a great cause."

To make a donation visit www.everyclick.com/teamendeavour. For more information about the charity go to www.teamendeavour.co.uk or @team_endeavour on Twitter.