WALES coach Warren Gatland has hailed the appetite for work of Newport Gwent Dragons hooker Lloyd Burns and warned that some of his squad are set for frustration on the sidelines.

The 26-year-old from Pontypool came off the bench to make his international debut against the Barbarians last month and was promptly named in the 45-man preliminary World Cup squad That will be cut down to 30 for the tournmanet in New Zealand with a quartet of hookers attempting to earn two spots as cover for skipper Matthew Rees.

Burns, fresh from his first full season of regional rugby, has come from nowhere to be in with a real shot, especially with Ospreys number two Richard Hibbard touch and go after shoulder surgery.

“Hooker is a position where you have got the captain but the others are fighting hard to put the pressure on,” said Gatland, whose other options are Huw Bennett and Ken Owens.

“Lloyd Burns has a real chance. He has gone away (after the Barbarians game) and looked after himself physically.

“He is working on a few things with his throwing technique but if you asked him to run through a brick wall he would do it.

“That’s fantastic to see and some of the youngsters who haven’t been involved – Justin Tipuric, Burns, Toby Faletau, Josh Turnbull, Lloyd Williams – they have got a chance and are pushing themselves to the limit.

“They are not taking a backward step and the older players are sitting up and taking notice, which is exactly the response that you want.”

An accusation levelled at the Barbarians game was that it gave out cheap caps to fringe players, something that Gatland has said will not be happening next month.

With a World Cup group that contains South Africa, Fiji and Samoa as well as minnows Namibia, the coach is prepared to call on his big guns in the three August Tests.

“We are in such a tough group that we are very conscious about picking strong teams in the warm-up games against England and Argentina to get confidence,” said Gatland.

“You have got to pick your number one teams for South Africa, Fiji and Samoa. You pick a squad of 30 and there could be a couple of guys that don’t play a lot of rugby, either in the warm-up games or out in New Zealand.

“It’s unfortunate but that’s a hard call we may need to make.”