WORKAHOLIC young blindside flanker Aaron Wainwright has the senior Dragons sweating on their places after grasping his unexpected chance, according to defence coach Hendre Marnitz.

The 20-year-old back row forward from Bassaleg has been one of the finds of the season for the Rodney Parade region.

Injuries to Nic Cudd, Lewis Evans, Harri Keddie, Robson Blake and Ollie Griffiths opened the door for the flanker, who spent last season with Cardiff Met in the WRU Championship and had expected to be learning the ropes with Newport RFC in the Premiership.

He has made six appearances and played at Cardiff Blues, Newcastle, Enisei-STM, the Ospreys, Munster and Northampton.

And while he doesn’t yet feature on the Dragons’ squad list on their website, Wainwright has certainly made an impression on his bosses.

“We have been unfortunate with the injuries we’ve had in the back row but he has been unbelievable,” said defence coach Marnitz.

“If you’d asked at the start of the season I would have said his job as a young player would have been holding tackle bags and learning! Now, even if everybody else was healthy, he would be pushing senior players hard for starts.

“Every week he comes out and gives everything, he is a guy that doesn’t say much but just works so hard.

“You know that he’s a player who will go for 80 minutes, empty the tank and go back to the changing room exhausted.

“And off the pitch he works just as hard, coming for one-on-ones, asking questions and always looking to get better. He is so young but has massive potential.”

Wainwright is yet to feature in a Rodney Parade fixture after he was left waiting to get on when the clock hit 80 minutes in the win against Southern Kings on September 30 and sat out the Anglo-Welsh Cup success against the Scarlets last weekend.

He will hope to return to the fray for Friday’s return to Guinness PRO14 action against Leinster at the Royal Dublin Society (kick-off 7.35pm).

Back row forward James Benjamin has also enjoyed a fine start to the campaign while Wales hopeful Ollie Griffiths made a rapid recovery from jaw surgery to skipper the side from openside against the Scarlets.

Wales 7s international Ben Roach has featured in the last three games against Munster, Northampton and the west Walians and will rival Wainwright for a place against the PRO14 title contenders in the Irish capital.

Leinster enjoyed a 39-16 win when the teams met in Newport in the first round and a formidable task is set to become even tougher with the return of a glut of stars to counter their lengthy list of Ireland absentees.

Centres Garry Ringrose (shoulder) and Fergus McFadden (hamstring), utility back and captain Isa Nacewa (ankle), back row forward Dan Leavy (hamstring) and lock Ian Nagle (pectoral muscle) could feature.

The return of the talented Ireland international Ringrose after summer surgery is a timely one for the PRO14 title hopefuls with a Champions Cup double-header with Exeter looming.

Head coach Stuart Lancaster said about the 22-year-old: “He looks sharp in training. We’ve still got to make sure he’s ‘contact ready’. He’s very close now.”

The Dragons clash will come too soon for new recruit James Lowe, the exciting winger from New Zealand who has headed for Leinster on a three-year deal.

“He has just got himself on the training field so it’s unlikely he’ll be available this week,” said Lancaster. “We need to get him bedded into the systems and structures of the way we play.”