Dragons coach Bernard Jackman says his side will benefit from exposing young talent to professional rugby this season.
Jackman has given PRO14 debuts to flankers Max Williams (19) and Lennon Greggains (18), scrum-half Owain Leonard (19) and wings Jared Rosser (19) and George Gasson (20).
Full-back Will Talbot-Davies (20), hooker Ellis Shipp (20) have also featured while flanker Aaron Wainwright (20) was an unused replacement against Southern Kings.
These players have been given opportunities due to an already small roster of seniors being stretched by injury and a new boss wanting to plot for the future in a transitional first campaign.
“We have a small squad,” said Jackman to southwalesargus.co.uk.
“If we develop them quickly this year then they will be useful additions for us next year.
“An injury is an opportunity for someone else and the way that our squad is set up, it’s tapping into the transition players to give them a go.
“I thought against the Kings our senior players gave the youngsters a bit of a better environment than we did at Ulster, when we still had a lot of experience.
“I know that we made a lot of changes [in Belfast] but we still had over 400 first class games in our pack and didn’t make it comfortable for the likes of Lennon Greggains.
“We need to make sure we look after our youngsters well and give them the right support; it’s hard enough when you play your first game and you just want to look to do your own job, not someone else’s.”
Jackman is also aware of the need to balance their development on and off the pitch.
“[England head coach] Eddie Jones spoke about giving youngsters game time and that they are like a flower, how much sun and how much water,” he said.
“I believe in the value of giving them a game and letting them judge where they are at and then making an individual plan for them.
“Lennon is on a programme where we are going to try and put a little bit of mass onto him and a little bit of power.
“He is only 18 but I’ve noticed the difference between a Welsh kid at 18 and an Irish kid or South African kid at 18.
“The training age is lower so we have to be creative with how we programme their weeks, months and next block.
“Some of our youngsters are on a more athletic development plan for the next five or six weeks and then we will see where they are at in terms of whether they get more game time – have they improved much and what do they need to work on?”
The post Jackman insists youngsters will benefit Dragons appeared first on Planet Rugby.