DRAGONS boss Bernard Jackman hopes to have bench impact from his Test contingent in Sunday’s vital Guinness PRO14 encounter with Edinburgh if they aren’t needed by Warren Gatland.

Seven of the region’s players are in contention for Wales’ autumn finale against South Africa on Saturday – captain and lock Cory Hill, back row forwards Ross Moriarty and Aaron Wainwright, hooker Elliot Dee, tighthead Leon Brown, centre Tyler Morgan and full-back/wing Hallam Amos.

Gatland names his team on Thursday but Wainwright, Brown, Morgan and Amos are outsiders to be included in the 23 to face the Springboks.

If they miss out then Jackman would consider flinging them back into club rugby from the bench as the Dragons hunt a first PRO14 win since September.

“We have been told that they are going to be in camp for the whole block, but maybe there might be a bit of leeway because it’s the last game and the fact we play on Sunday,” said Jackman.

“We will let them pick their team and see if there is anything we can get back. It would be hard for them to start but they could potentially go on the bench.

“We’ve had two weeks of prep for Edinburgh and have made some changes (to the defensive system), so we would make a call as coaching staff but it would be unfair to the players unless they were released to us on Wednesday.”

Amos made his Dragons comeback in the Guinness PRO14 loss at Connacht at the start of the month after seven weeks out with a dislocated shoulder.

The 24-year-old, who played centre at the Sportsground, was not selected in Wales’ autumn squad because of the injury with Gatland opting for Leigh Halfpenny, Liam Williams, George North, Josh Adams, Jonah Holmes and Steff Evans as back three options.

However, Halfpenny has been ruled out of the November finale against South Africa because of concussion and the national management team have called up Amos, who had helped in preparations for their wins against Australia and Tonga.

“We are delighted for him and hopefully he will be part of the matchday squad,” said Jackman. “It’s a blow for us but we want to have current internationals, so you can’t have it every way.”

The Dragons won’t have their Wales stars in the XV but they have been given a raft of boosts with flanker Ollie Griffiths (hip), locks Brandon Nansen (concussion) and Matthew Screech (ankle), fly-half Arwel Robson (ankle) and wing Jared Rosser (hamstring) all in contention for Edinburgh.

The return of talisman Griffiths is a particular boost after the back row forward’s barnstorming start to the season that left many surprised that he wasn’t given the opportunity to add to his solitary Wales cap.

“We are very lucky to have one of the strongest back rows in Guinness PRO14, in terms of our depth, and Ollie has probably been the pick of them, in terms of his form,” said Jackman.

“We were gutted that he didn’t get picked for November (with Wales) and then he didn’t get to play against Ulster and Connacht (through injury).

“Ollie can generally hit form quite quickly. He doesn’t need four or five games to get up to speed, because he looks after himself so well, so he could be crucial for us. He is a big boost.”

Fly-half Jason Tovey will play on permit from Cross Keys to wear 10 against the side he left last summer.