ALL Blacks speedster Charles Piutau has made a career out of doing damage with ball in hand but the pain was especially severe for Dragons lock Matthew Screech when their paths crossed last season, writes Chris Kirwan.

The 25-year-old hunted down the New Zealand full-back in the clash with Ulster at Rodney Parade in December. Screech, who had earlier scored a try, made the cover tackle but ripped the hamstring off his bone, ending his 2017/18 campaign.

The lock returned in pre-season and will start against Leinster in Dublin today (kick-off 5.15pm) after coming off the bench in round one against Benetton and earning a promotion for last week's win against Southern Kings.

Screech is keeping Samoa lock Brandon Nansen on the bench and is pleased to be on the field, albeit with a 10-centimetre scar and a hamstring that occasionally tingles.

"It's nice to be back in the swing of things, training and playing in the games," said Screech, who signed from Cardiff Blues in 2013.

"It was one of the first injuries that I had to have an operation on. Dealing with that was a new experience but after being out for seven months it has been nice to be back involved.

"The hamstring is stronger than it was before. If I was a player with Ashton Hewitt or Daf Howell's speed I might be worried, but I only really go about five yards with the ball in my hand!"

Screech knows that he can ill afford to put in a poor performance against Leinster's star-studded line-up with Nansen adding oomph from the bench and Rynard Landman and Joe Davies waiting in the wings.

"There is tough competition," he said. "It's really healthy with Rynard having great experience and Joe played a lot of games last year. Brandon has come in and adds another element to the 4 jersey and Cory Hill is doing great.

"I knew coming back it was going to be tougher and I wanted to put my head down in pre-season, work hard and show that I should be a part of it."

Screech will once again pack down next to captain Hill, a player who has enjoyed a remarkable rise over the past couple of years to become a Wales regular.

"I've been with Cory since we were about 17. I went through the Blues academy with him, we left at the same time, he went to Moseley and I came here, then he came here a couple of months later," said Screech.

"Fair play to him, he had his chance with Wales and he took it with both hands and has gone from strength to strength.

"Seeing him being able to do it does give me confidence. We are different players but I speak to him about playing for Wales and it's something that I want to do as well, I have ambitions.

"He hasn't changed to be fair, he has always been down to earth but he has become more of a leader. Cory has grown into that role from playing for Wales.

"He backs himself and he got that chance, showed all of his qualities to the coaches and they liked him."