I DON'T like having too many options. Sometimes it's best being forced to take just one, like when you are down to your last clean and ironed work shirt.

If Warren Gatland looks in his metaphorical wardrobe at the moment then he is faced with a rack of selections. That will be nice for the Wales coach, but everyone has their favourites.

The national side are in good shape in the build up to next year's World Cup and should be able to absorb the blows if hit by a glut of injuries in Japan as they were in England in 2015.

Over the past year Wales have been forced to cope without a glut of players who are key figures – Sam Warburton, Taulupe Faletau, Jonathan Davies, Liam Williams, George North, Jake Ball, Ross Moriarty, Dan Lydiate, Rhys Webb, Dan Biggar.

This season they have responded well with a host of 'fringe' players proving themselves in international rugby.

Dragons lock Cory Hill has risen the challenge in the absence of Ball, showing just why Gatland resisted the temptation to get a few more caps out of the still excellent Luke Charteris.

The back row was under pressure without their Lions but Aaron Shingler has taken his superb Scarlets form into international rugby and Josh Navidi has put in some monumental performances to show those doubters, of which I was one, that he can cut it on the Test scene.

Hallam Amos had a marvellous autumn and the back three options have been bolstered by Steff Evans and Josh Adams.

Biggar is being pressured by footballing fly-halves Rhys Priestland, Gareth Anscombe and Rhys Patchell while Hadleigh Parkes looks composed in midfield and Owen Williams showed promise in November.

The Scarlets front row of Rob Evans, Ken Owens and Samson Lee has cemented itself in Gatland's XV but they now have players who can provide real oomph from the bench in Wyn Jones, Elliot Dee and Leon Brown.

One feared that Wales' lengthy list of absentees would derail their Six Nations campaign but instead it has provided more optimism for the build-up to Japan.

Even if there is no upset in Ireland on Saturday week, the championship will been deemed a pretty good one as long as Italy and France are dealt with in Cardiff.

From there is another building opportunity in Argentina this summer before things crank up in the build-up to Japan.

Gatland will hope that the summer of 2019 will provide some squad quandaries… yet the selection headaches won't be splitting.

No coach will ever complain about having too much depth and players have stood tall in recent fixtures, yet Warburton, Faletau, Davies, Liam Williams and North all improve the XV.

They are tried and tested in Test rugby, they have responded when under pressure before and they can be relied upon. None of them are over the hill, all of them should prosper from being pushed hard by hopefuls in the knowledge that poor performance will lead to a seat on the bench or even in the stands.

Gatland will be pleased that this period has provided a few more individuals that he can trust but he won't want too many more in this World Cup cycle, and sometimes it's nice for a coach to have the odd flop just to reinforce their thinking and streamline their options.

Football frequently provides evidence of that with those that tinker too much with huge squads failing to build up a head of steam while those teams that can field settled teams (as Leicester and Chelsea did in the previous two Premier League seasons without the distraction of Europe) prosper.

Gatland will be delighted that his options have grown this season and he now has players at his disposal that enable him to adopt a horses for courses approach.

But international head coaches have to think about the long-term as well as next weekend and Wales still have a XV that, fitness permitting, is not much different to this time last year.

Encouragingly, the rise of the fringe players at a time of crisis means the drop-off in quality isn't quite so severe.

South Wales Argus:

THE Dragons are Guinness PRO14 trailblazers – they’ve always had respect for Treviso.

The Italian side, now called Benetton Rugby, are having a terrific season and head to Rodney Parade on Sunday looking for a fifth league win on the spin.

Their performances have caused the rest of the PRO14 to doff their caps and arguably only the Cheetahs are having a better campaign judged by pre-season expectation.

The Italians sit fifth in Conference B a whopping 18 points ahead of the Dragons and if they win in Newport then they will be putting the heat on Ulster for the final play-off berth.

Their record of seven wins from 14 games shows that Bernard Jackman’s side have a lot of catching up to do next season if they are to be bracketed with their traditional peers.

Benetton’s upturn will have been greeted with glee by PRO14 chiefs, as will that of Edinburgh, who are pushing the league’s biggest underachievers Ulster hard in a first season with Richard Cockerill at the helm.

The hope at Rodney Parade is that next season they will be the team to make a few waves, aided by new recruits and a shorter injury list.

I’m not one for believing in form transferring from April to September; finishing on a high doesn’t really provide momentum for the next campaign.

However, it’s important that the Dragons provide some cheer at the end of a frustrating campaign.

Sunday is key to that and even though games against Treviso have traditionally gone with home advantage (sevens wins apiece in the league, one away triumph each), this weekend is a test of the Dragons’ mettle.

Formula One legend Michael Schumacher was on top of the podium in a Benetton in 1994 and 1995. The rugby team may not be there just yet but the PRO14 is prospering thanks to Treviso no longer being at the back of the grid.