IT felt like a low blow to those of a Dragons persuasion when Warren Gatland suggested that Hallam Amos lacked the pure pace to be a Test winger.

The Wales boss may rub some folk up the wrong way but he has a habit of being right and on this occasion the New Zealander pointed out something that should give hope to one of Amos’ unlucky Rodney Parade teammates.

It was in the 2016 Six Nations that Gatland first stated that Amos was “quick, but not international quick”, the context being that he sees the Dragon as a full-back/wing rather than a wing/full-back.

That’s an opinion that has been shared by plenty with Darren Edwards, Lyn Jones, Kingsley Jones and now Bernard Jackman all believing that Amos adds an extra dimension when getting involved from 15 with his neat footwork, left peg and lines of running.

Test rugby can ruthlessly expose limitations and something that isn’t an issue in club rugby can become one.

Amos is in good company as a solid international winger; Exeter’s Jack Nowell is a wonderful footballer but does he really give England sufficient gas on the flank? Work rate and hunger are laudable but are they enough?

But out-and-out pace is something that Ashton Hewitt has in abundance.

Not even Amos can match the 23-year-old from Newport for excitement when the ball goes wide at Rodney Parade.

He is the most exhilar-ating player on the region’s books, someone who has provided plenty of bright moments over several gloomy years of results.

Hewitt has nimble feet to expose defenders when they are either too cautious or too committed, plus the serious pace to exploit that gap with big metres.

When he briefly appeared for Cross Keys in 2011/12 and then more regularly with Newport the following two seasons, the winger dazzled with ball in hand.

Since then he has made great strides in defence, under the high ball and with his kicking, both in terms of when to put boot to ball and in execution.

Yet Hewitt is still uncapped, partly down to rotten luck.

In 2017 he was called up for the Six Nations only to fail to recover from a concussion suffered on Dragons duty, leaving him to watch on as fellow 23-year-old Steff Evans grabbed his chance.

Then earlier this month he prospered from Josh Adams’ unavailability to be included for the tour to face South Africa and Argentina.

A blow to the shoulder in training on Thursday meant he stayed on Welsh soil when the others flew to Washington on Sunday.

With Gatland guaranteeing caps to all of his party, Hewitt must feel rotten at the moment but the Dragons speedster must keep his chin up.

Even in those brief moments training at the Vale Resort his point of difference would have stood out to the Wales management.

If not, then Dragons boss Bernard Jackman should WhatsApp a link to the YouTube clip of Hewitt’s try against Worcester in January.

A midfield move was neat enough but it was only the pace of the man in the 15 jersey that led to a 50-metre score; Warriors left wing Alex Hearle was in a pretty good position but was left clutching at thin air, then right wing Tom Howe was caught by surprise by the pure speed.

Granted, that was only in Anglo-Welsh Cup action, but it provides evidence of just why those of us in the east rate Hewitt so highly.

In truth the winger didn’t hit the heights this season but if he can return from the shoulder injury and show the form that he did when winning the Argus Dragon of the Year award in 2015/16 then the World Cup remains a possibility.

Key to that is taking on board the demands that Rob Howley made before the shoulder injury.

Last Wednesday the Wales attack coach said: “He is quick and I was really pleased with his communication in the outside channels in training.

“He is full of enthusiasm and confidence, as you’d expect him to be, and he offers a little bit of difference in terms of the amount of pace that he has.

“The challenge for Ashton now is getting the ball in hands as often as possible. We want 15 touches from him and that’s the next level up now.”

To that end, one hopes that frustrated Hewitt could face watching some rugby on television last Sunday.

If he tuned into Sky Sports then he would have seen a wing masterclass from Chris Ashton when scoring a hat-trick for the Barbarians against England, fresh from a record-breaking season with Toulon.

Ashton is a wonderful player, combining a sharp rugby brain with a hunger for work.

He doesn’t stay on his wing, he goes hunting. That appetite for being involved results in tries that look simple but are down to the Wiganer’s lines of running and support play, tracking skills that become evident when the TV director uses the camera behind the posts.

It’s impossible to teach such anticipation to Ashton’s level - it’s a gift, especially when he arcs his run to perfection like a football striker avoiding an offside trap - but Hewitt can hit new heights with the hunger to hit Howley’s 15 target.

Next season will be fascinating in the Dragons’ back three with game-breakers Jordan Williams and Dafydd Howells adding to the competition while Jared Rosser is the young pretender after finishing last season impressively.

But Hewitt is still the man that I would hand the 14 jersey to and his time can still come to show that top-end speed on the Test stage.