Lennon imagining his Dragons return after nightmare season

The 21-year-old from Newport was aiming for a breakthrough campaign with the Rodney Parade region but instead he spent it on the sidelines.

In the Dragons' Celtic Cup opener against Connacht in Galway he ruptured knee ligaments, meaning his 2019/20 campaign was over after one game in August.

Greggains made his regional debut at Ulster in 2017, the first of five appearances off the bench. He plans to push for a starting spot when the sport gets the green light to resume after the suspension because of coronavirus.

"I'm excited about getting my name out there again. I'm back running now and I'm hoping to come back in the best physical shape of my life," said the former Wales Under-20s international.

"I put on about 10kgs to begin with after the operation, and was starting to look big and chunky, but my weight has dropped since I was able to start running again.

"I went up to 113kg at my heaviest during my re-hab, but now I'm feeling comfortable at 106kg."

Greggains initially hoped that the injury at the Sportsground would turn out to be a strain and a five-week break but a scan revealed a torn ACL and nine months out.

"That was difficult for me to get my head around because I'd never experienced anything like that before in my career," admitted Greggains.

"Two weeks after the operation I was trying to walk, which wasn't the best thing to do, and I have to admit that for about five months I found it really tough.

"I'm usually pretty independent, but my mum and dad had to do all the cooking for me and their support was fantastic.

"At the club, I spoke to a lot of players who had been through the same injury and their help and advice, along with that of the physios, was invaluable."

Greggains was given a boost when he was offered fresh terms with the Dragons last autumn despite being at the start of his comeback trail.

After being given a debut by head coach Bernard Jackman, then featuring under caretaker boss Ceri Jones, the flanker is relishing working for director of rugby Dean Ryan.

"I got a text from Dean last summer after Wales U20 had beaten New Zealand at the Junior World Cup and then I was given a new contract while I was recovering from my injury," said Greggains.

"That filled me with confidence. Dean has had a chat with me every day at the club and I intend to do whatever I can to prove to him I can make it at the top level.

"The Dragons had a much-improved season under him and it is a really tight squad.

"There are a lot of younger players who have come through the ranks together and we are all good mates as well as colleagues and push each other on."