WALES star Aaron Wainwright has been backed to come back firing from injury in Lions year as the Dragons prepare to start the season without their talisman.
The 26-year-old from Bassaleg is on the comeback trail after he suffered a serious hamstring tear in the first Test defeat to Australia in Sydney last month.
The number eight, who was playing his 30th game of a mammoth 2023/24, faces a race against time if he is to feature in the autumn internationals.
Wainwright is scheduled to be back in the early part of November, which would make him a doubt to face Fiji, the Wallabies and South Africa.
That would deny the strong-running forward – who was in sensational form – the chance to make an early impression on Lions boss Andy Farrell in the fierce scramble to be one of the back rowers that will tour Australia next year.
“Waino is scheduled to be out until the middle of the autumn internationals and it’s important that he is right, because it’s a big year for him,” said Dragons head coach Dai Flanagan.
“If he works hard enough then there is the real potential for him to be in consideration for the Lions and, judging by history and how he works at his craft, Waino will work hard in his rehab and come back stronger from this.”
The Dragons get financial compensation for their biggest earner because he was injured on international duty.
They are without their star player for the first six-game block of the United Rugby Championship but Flanagan has trust in his back row.
“It’s a massive blow,” he admitted. “You don’t want to lose your best players and one of ours is out for a long time.
“That does affect us when operating with a small squad but we still have Taine Basham chomping at the bit and Harrison Keddie training the house down.
“Shane Lewis-Hughes has come in really fit and ready to make an impression – he looks every bit the player who represented Wales. We have plenty of options.”
Blindside Ryan Woodman will rejoin his teammates for the second block of pre-season after returning from captaining Wales at the World Rugby U20 Championship.
Tonga international Solomone Funaki, a summer signing from Moana Pasifika, is targeting the first game of the URC after a small operation to clean out his left knee.
Ollie Griffiths and George Young are fit after missing the end of last season while Dan Lydiate is set to be an emergency option.
The former Wales and Lions blindside is poised to take the next step in his rugby career as a coach/player and has been working with the squad in that role this summer.
The 36-year-old’s exact role is yet to be clarified and he will remain registered as a player should injuries strike.
Given the Dragons head to feature hookers James Benjamin and Sam Scarfe in the back row last season, Lydiate could yet get the chance to get the five appearances he needs for a Dragons century.
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