NEWPORT Gwent Dragons are today celebrating getting a record number of their players into the Welsh team for Saturday’s World Cup warm-up game against the Barbarians at the Millennium Stadium.

Record try scoring wing Aled Brew, lock Luke Charteris and back row pair Dan Lydiate and Toby Faletau have all made it and, perhaps most remarkable of all, Lloyd Burns has come from nowhere to be on the bench and is poised to win his first cap.

Having four starters beats the previous best of three achieved by the Dragons in 2005 when Kevin Morgan, Ceri Sweeney and Michael Owen played against New Zealand. Morgan, Charteris and Owen were also in against Fiji and, in 2006, Hal Luscombe, Ian Gough and Owen started against Ireland, Italy and France.

“I’m thrilled with it, it’s fantastic. They have all worked so hard for this,” said head coach Darren Edwards.

And director of rugby Robert Beale added: “At last the national set-up is recognising the progress we are making. Everyone deserves credit for it.

“It’s massive and it says a lot about the Dragons’ style of play, the coaching and the work ethic. All of a sudden we are now seeing the fruits of our labours.

“It’s about everyone in the organisation, a heck of a lot of work has been put in behind the scenes and the future here looks very bright.”

The Dragons player out of the five on duty who gets the most praise is the one who is not in the actual team - Burns, set to play for Wales as a replacement the day after he gets married.

The hooker, who a few years ago was playing No 8 for Pontypool and only broke into the Dragons team this season, now has the opportunity to go all the way to the World Cup after impressing Wales coach Warren Gatland near the end of the season.

He has also apparently looked the part in training with the Wales squad this week. “I’m thrilled for all the players but especially for Lloyd,” said Beale.

“It’s taken three years of hard slog to get where he is, but I’ve always believed from the first time I met him that he had the ability to play for Wales.”

Edwards admitted: “It’s a great rugby story and it shows how far he’s come in 12 months. He’s going to be an iconic figure for the region and it’s good to see how players who apply themselves can be rewarded. He’s got the potential to go even higher.

“Aled has had two good seasons really and he deserves this chance, he has played well week in, week out against international players.

“Luke has had a burning ambition to get fit again and be back in the Wales squad. He gave huge commitment to the Dragons even when not 100% fit, but he’s got through that patch and I hope he does the same thing for Wales.

“Toby doesn’t know how good he can be. He may be laid back but he’s got exceptionally high standards and he’ll be very proud to play for Wales (he is the first Tongan-born player to do so).

“With Dan established now, it’s great to see two of our young back rowers playing for Wales.”

Stephen Jones will win his 100th cap and Gavin Henson makes his return to international rugby after a two-year absence having played in the Grand Slam winning sides of 2005 and 2008. “Gavin knows he just needs to let his rugby do the talking now,” said Gatland “We have tried to get the right mixture of youth and experience and the likes of Toby Faletau and Ryan Bevington will look at this and think ‘this is a good chance for me’.”

Wales Team: M Stoddart, G North, J Davies, G Henson, A Brew, S Jones, M Phillips, R Bevington, H Bennett, P James, R Jones, L Charteris, D Lydiate, T Faletau, S Warburton (captain). Replacements: L Burns, S Andrews, A Wyn Jones, J Turnbull, T Knoyle, R Priestland, Scott Williams.