AARON Wainwright is backing captain Ben Carter to lead by example for the Dragons – and push for a Wales start this autumn.

The 23-year-old lock from Caldicot has been chosen to lead the Rodney Parade club in the upcoming United Rugby Championship season.

Carter replaces Steff Hughes and becomes the Dragons’ second youngest club captain behind centre Ashley Smith.

The hope is that the responsibility will bring the modest forward out of his shell and he will be charged with developing relationships with the officials.

However, Carter will also be able to lean on Wales internationals Wainwright and Elliot Dee plus the likes of Hughes, Rhodri Williams, George Nott, Steve Cummins, Harrison Keddie, Lloyd Evans and Angus O’Brien.

Wainwright doesn’t expect Carter to turn into a ranter and raver, with the talisman praising his teammate’s calm words.

“He can be quite quiet but when he has something to say everyone listens and takes it on board,” said the back rower, who roomed with the lock in Australia last summer.

“He leads by the way he plays and he has a good core group of players around him who have captained before and they will provide as much support as they can.”

Carter won his 12th cap alongside Dragons teammate Matthew Screech against the legendary South Africa pairing of double World Cup winners Eben Etzebeth and Franco Mostert.

His display earned the praise of Warren Gatland but he was denied the chance to add to his international outings against the Wallabies because of injury.

Wainwright believes a strong start to the URC will put the Dragons skipper right in the mix for the autumn encounters with Fiji, Australia and the Springboks.

“It’s exciting to have his leadership going forward and it’s a big year for him because he was unlucky over the summer with his injury,” said the number eight, who aims to be up for Test selection after suffering a hamstring tear in Australia.

“If he gets back to where he was before that and kicks on at the start of the season then there’s no reason why he can’t be pushing for a starting Wales jersey.”

The Dragons kick off the URC with a derby against the Ospreys a week on Saturday, a game that could give Carter and Screech the chance to impress against Welsh rivals.