DRAGONS centre Aneurin Owen has been called up to the Wales squad as injury replacement for full-back Leigh Halfpenny.

The 20-year-old from Newport had already been training with Wayne Pivac's men as an "attached player" after a breakthrough season.

Owen made his debut at Bordeaux-Begles in December and played 15 times, keeping Wales centre Nick Tompkins out of the XV for the European Challenge Cup knockout clash with Northampton.

The ball-playing centre will now provide cover for the two Tests against Argentina in Cardiff.

"It's great for him to come into our environment and see how we train, how we play and our philosophies," said backs coach Stephen Jones.

"For me it's great to look at Aneurin to see what his skill set is like, how comfortable he is as a ballplayer in traffic and how comfortable he is playing at speed.

"This summer series is a great opportunity for us as coaches to see a lot of young boys come in and how they adapt."

Halfpenny suffered a serious knee injury in the opening minute of the rout of Canada on his 100th Test appearance.

"The full-back will require surgery with further assessments to determine his long-term prognosis and management," read a Welsh Rugby Union statement.

Centre Nick Tompkins was a makeshift wing after Halfpenny's injury misfortune, joining Tom Rogers and Jonah Holmes in the back three.

Hallam Amos, Ioan Lloyd and Owen Lane contenders to come into the XV.

Captain Jonathan Davies and Willis Halaholo started in midfield with Tompkins and Ben Thomas the other centres in the squad.