NEWPORT Gwent Dragons’ young guns have been backed to be key figures at Rodney Parade over the coming campaign.

The Wales Under-20s side that lost the Junior World Championship final to England last month featured five players from Gwent – 18-year-old wing/full-back Hallam Amos, 18-year-old centre Jack Dixon, 19-year-old hooker Elliot Dee and 19-year-old back row forwards Ieuan Jones and James Benjamin.

Amos, Dixon and Jones are already fully-fledged members of the Dragons frontline squad, making 14, 18 and 16 appearances respectively in 2012/13.

Byron Hayward, who has been promoted to Under-20s head coach from assistant and works as skills coach at the Dragons Academy, believes they will continue to progress and become mainstays for new director of rugby Lyn Jones.

“Those boys will have gained an awful lot from the Junior World Championship and I don’t see why they can’t be key figures for the Dragons next season,” said the former Wales full-back from Blaina.

“They competed against the best players of their age from around the world and in more cases than not came out on top.

“Their confidence will be sky high and given the opportunity, which I fully expect Lyn will give based on his history, they will make a massive impact for the region.”

That is a view shared by former Wales centre Mark Taylor, who is team manager for the Under-20s.

“It’s great for me as a Gwent man to see these outstanding players coming through,” said the 52-times capped back from Blaenavon.

“It’s a clean slate with Lyn coming in and it’s important that the Under-20s boys work hard in pre-season to make an impression on him. They are quality players and I hope that they make an impact.

“It would be nice to see those boys being the core of the Dragons side and for them to help the region compete at the top end because Wales needs that when you look at the history and legacy of clubs in Gwent.”

Taylor believes that the exploits in France last month should ensure that plenty of young prospects experience RaboDirect Pro12 action with the four regions.

“We’ve had success in the Six Nations and the Junior World Championship and hopefully a lot of those players have shown they are ready to make the next step up into the professional game,” he said.

“That’s the whole point of the Under-20s and those boys are knocking on the door of the regional sides after being exposed to high quality rugby.

“How they dealt with the pressure of a semi-final and final says a lot about their temperament.

“A lot of those players have got a pat on the back, they’ve crossed that big hurdle and now it’s whether or not they get an opportunity at the regions.

“Hopefully they’ll get the chance in the early part of the season to make an impact and go on from there.”