DRAGONS chief Dean Ryan has spoken of his admiration for Sam Davies following the Dragons fly-half’s call to train with the Wales squad ahead of the weekend’s crunch clash at Twickenham.

Davies is helping Wayne Pivac’s men prepare for the Six Nations showdown with England, meaning Arwel Robson or Jacob Botica may have to step up when the Dragons host Benetton this Friday.

Ryan is delighted to see eight-times capped Davies, who is not an official member of Pivac’s squad, involved with Wales alongside his regional team-mates fighting for places in Saturday’s matchday 23.

And the Rodney Parade supremo believes 26-year-old Davies, who moved to Newport from the Ospreys last May, and players like him deserve praise for taking a “risk” with their career choices.

“There’s definitely a risk coming to a team that is not as established around senior players, but the opportunity it gives you is huge,” he said.

“Being front of house, making the decisions, having to learn from them, and having to be involved in the strategy of how a team plays is where all the best players have been at some stage.

“You can’t get there by being in the back seat to somebody else, and even if you do, what you tend to inherit is someone else’s views.

“I’ve always said full credit to Sam for taking the risk (of joining the Dragons).

“It frustrates me when I see players who are more interested in being at a higher profile club with a nicer tracksuit than actually getting out and going ‘this is what I am, these are the things I need to learn’.

“We need to be better at that as a game because we’re in danger of stockpiling people into situations and they don’t play.

“Sam plays and he’s moved on massively as a player.

"He’s also highlighted some things he needs to be better at, and he’s only done that by playing.

“I’ve only got admiration for people who are prepared to take that risk.”

On his involvement with Wales, Ryan added: “We’ve always taken the attitude that we’ve got to get more players into the Wales squad, so we’re delighted.

“The more people in that Welsh squad the better it is for the Dragons.”

And when asked if Davies could cope with the pressure of playing at Twickenham if needed, he replied: “You can’t prepare for something you haven’t done a huge amount of, so it needs context.

“His previous internationals would have been opportunities to see where he was at.

“Twickenham in a Six Nations is slightly different, it’s definitely about the here and now.

“But he’s run sides, he’s run us in the PRO14, he’s won games for us, he’s understood how to get out the last 20 minutes, so it will be a huge experience for him.

“I would only tell him to enjoy it, learn from it, and hopefully keep getting back in it.”