DRAGONS boss Bernard Jackman is hopeful his Wales contingent will inspire their teammates on their return to Ystrad Mynach.

The Rodney Parade region supplied four players to Warren Gatland’s squad for the autumn – captain and lock Cory Hill, winger Hallam Amos, tighthead Leon Brown and hooker Elliot Dee.

Centre Tyler Morgan was named in the initial squad only to suffer an ankle injury against the Ospreys in the final fixture before heading into camp.

The Dragons quartet featured in the Test against Georgia, meaning that the region had supplied four players in a matchday squad for the first time since the 2011 World Cup bronze match against Australia.

Head coach Jackman believes his Test players will give a lift to their teammates that have aspirations of featuring at the highest level.

“It’s big. We feel that we can get a couple more in there,” said the nine-times capped former Ireland hooker.

“Leon, Elliot, Cory, Tyler and Hallam deserved it and probably feel that if Ollie Griffiths hadn’t got injured he would have been very close, and Ashton Hewitt isn’t far away.

“That’s a massive change for the Dragons in terms of having five or maybe seven in a national squad.

“That’s where we want to get to and next year we want even more, hopefully 10 or 11.

“What it does is give the players here really good feedback in terms of the training environment being right and they can also measure themselves – if Liam Belcher, for example, can get ahead of Elliot Dee or be as good as him then it means he has a chance of playing for Wales.

“That’s the environment I grew up in over in Ireland; you knew if you were getting in the starting XV for Leinster or Connacht you were at the right level to be in the mix to play international rugby.”

The Dragons have already snapped up two internationals for next season in back row forward Ross Moriarty and scrum-half Rhodri Williams from Gloucester and Bristol respectively.

Jackman is hopeful that having a growing contingent of Wales players can help in his bid to attract more exiles.

“It shows people outside this region that playing for the Dragons isn’t a handicap if you want to play for Wales,” said the head coach.

“We would like to believe that as we change the environment we can hopefully produce players for international rugby better than anyone else.

“It’s very early days but having players like Elliot and Leon, who have come through our academy system, involved is a little win.”