DRAGONS wing Ashton Hewitt has revealed that he will miss the start of the season due to the injury that denied him the chance of winning a first Wales cap.

The 23-year-old from Newport was forced to withdraw from Warren Gatland’s squad on the eve of the summer tour to the USA and Argentina after being a late replacement for Josh Adams.

At the time it was reported that the speedster had suffered a blow to the shoulder, ruling him out of the games against South Africa in Washington and the Pumas in Santa Fe and San Juan.

Hewitt actually dislocated his right shoulder – the same that required reconstructive surgery in 2016 – when attempting to tackle regional teammate Elliot Dee in training.

He underwent surgery again seven weeks ago and has since been going through the necessary rehabilitation as he looks to return to full fitness.

Today it was announced that Dragons forwards Aaron Jarvis and number eight Harri Keddie had also gone under the knife this summer.

They both suffered bicep injuries during pre-season training and won’t be back until October, around the same time Hewitt is hoping to be available to head coach Bernard Jackman.

“I had a shoulder dislocation a few weeks back so I’m just on the road to recovery with that,” said Hewitt.

“It was through tackling Elliot Dee in training. Unfortunately I didn’t get my tackle technique as good as it should have been and I ended up worse for wear.

“He was absolutely gutted. He rang me straight after and apologised.

“I had to calm him down and tell him there was nothing to apologise for.

“I’ve known him for years, he’s my teammate, so he was gutted for me. He really did care.”

He added: “I had a shoulder reconstruction two years ago, so it’s the same shoulder but a different procedure, and hopefully it should be stronger than ever.

“I’ve had a couple of lengthy injuries over the last few years but they are in the past, I put them behind me, I don’t dwell on what I’ve missed out on.

“When I’m back fit I’ll be focusing on playing as well as I can and getting in the Dragons team to start with and whatever happened from there happens from there.

“The opportunity with Wales came around at the last minute and sort of got snatched away from me.

“It’s frustrating and disappointing but it’s the game that we play and I’m not the first person it has happened to.

“I’m sure my luck will change and I hope to get that chance again.

“You get in that environment and it just makes you so eager to get back into it again.

“Everyone’s aim is to play international rugby, and it’s my biggest aim, so I’ve had a taste and I’d love to get back involved.”

The dislocation was the second time that uncapped Hewitt had been forced to pull out of a Wales squad.

In 2017 he was ruled out of the Six Nations because of a concussion suffered while on Dragons duty.