TEENAGER Max Williams has clearly caught the eye of Dragons head coach Bernard Jackman this summer, with the Rodney Parade chief describing him as a “potential rough diamond”.

The 19-year-old academy product, who has played club rugby for the likes of Pontypool and Ebbw Vale, impressed Jackman again during Saturday’s defeat by Exeter Chiefs.

And prior to that, the former Newport High School pupil played a part in the region’s first pre-season friendly against Montpellier.

Speaking about the youngster following the 50-24 loss at Sandy Park, Jackman said: “Max Williams has been the find of pre-season.

“He is a kid that I didn’t know much about.

“He only played one game for the firsts last year so he wasn’t in any of the footage I looked at.

“But he has been a surprise, he’s been excellent, and somebody we see a huge future for.

“He’s very athletic in the second row but we’re trying to make him into a six because he’s a pretty good lineout forward.

“And even though he’s not as big as he probably will be, he actually wins a lot of collisions.

“He’s just a good, intelligent young man who wants to play well for the Dragons and is from the region.

“He could be a potential rough diamond.”

Williams will no doubt be hoping to impress Jackman further at the Dragons’ Ystrad Mynach training base this week ahead of Glasgow’s visit to Gwent on Friday.

The friendly takes place at Eugene Cross Park, the ground where Williams turned out for Ebbw Vale last term.

Meanwhile, Jackman was also pleased to see Hallam Amos get more game time under his belt in Devon.

He added: “That was Hallam’s second game. We took him off at half-time after having a couple of bangs.

“We’ve got guys like him, Adam Warren and Ashton Hewitt, who played a little bit last week, and we’ve just got to nurse them back.

“The worst thing you could do with them is give them 80 minutes and they could blow up again.

“We’ve got to be cautious with their comeback but it’s great to see them back on the field and it just adds to our strength in depth.”