WALES boss Wayne Pivac admitted that Jamie Roberts' form with the Dragons made him consider a shock recall for the veteran centre.

The 34-year-old has been a huge hit since heading to Rodney Parade from the Stormers in August.

He has led the charge with the physical approach that made him such a mainstay of the Warren Gatland era, winning 94 Wales caps and three more for the Lions in 2013 and 2017.

Roberts, who said at the start of the month that he feels he is playing as well now as in his mid to late-20s, is arguably the form 12 in the country.

Pivac has adopted a short-term approach in the back row by selecting former Dragons blindside Dan Lydiate at 33 but has opted to stick with Johnny Williams, Nick Tompkins, Owen Watkin and Jonathan Davies as his centres.

South Wales Argus:

"We've looked at Jamie's form and I've spoken to Jamie," said Pivac. "With a guy coming in at that age, we'd want him to be starting as opposed to being in and around the squad.

"Otherwise we could have a younger guy in for development purposes, so it's a bit of a balancing act.

"In Johnny Williams, we believe we have a 12 there that played very well at the top level of the game against England and has a big future in the game.

"Johnny is our man at 12 and we've got Owen Watkin there who can play 12 and 13. Nick Tompkins the same and Jonathan Davies, who is very well known as a 13 but we think may be able to play 12 in the future."

On-loan Saracens centre Tompkins is one of four Dragons named in the squad with hooker Elliot Dee, tighthead Leon Brown and back row forward Aaron Wainwright getting the nod.

Their teammate Jonah Holmes misses out after suffering a head injury in the New Year's Day defeat to the Scarlets.

Dragons blindside/number eight Ross Moriarty is on the comeback trail from an ankle injury suffered on international duty in the autumn. He could return for his club during the tournament.