HE’S had to bide his time but Newport Gwent Dragons flanker Darren Waters is relishing the chance to shine on the regional stage.

The 26-year-old arrived at Rodney Parade last summer after impressing in the Premiership with Pontypridd.

His early months in Gwent featured some cameos off the bench and a pair of starts in the LV= Cup but he was largely a peripheral figure while he learnt the ropes.

And his patience has paid off – he has made three starts in the back row since the turn of the year, including last Saturday’s much-needed RaboDirect Pro12 win against Edinburgh.

“It was frustrating because I kept feeling that I was ready but the coaches could see something that I couldn’t,” said the former bricklayer.

“They obviously know what they are doing and are bringing me into the side slowly which is good and hopefully I can have the seven shirt more often next season.

“Gavin Thomas giving me advice has been a massive boost and the coaches offer me so much and improve my game in one-to-one training.

“I have put on weight, I am feeling confident and, if anything, I have found the step up easier because everyone in the team does their roles rather than the chaos of the Premiership!

“But that’s not knocking the Premiership because I got picked up from it. It’s nice to know that people are watching it to find players rather than just looking to the Academy system.”

The Dragons head to bottom club Aironi on Sunday searching for a win that could see them climb to ninth in the table and keep alive their slim hopes of catching the Scarlets.

If they are to do that then they will need to be more clinical in attack than they were against Edinburgh, where a host of chances slipped away because of handling errors.

“It’s been pretty much the same scenario all season,” admitted Waters.

“We put a lot of good phase play together but coming to the crucial point we can’t seem to get over the line.”