IN-FORM wing Jonah Holmes has been backed to fight his way back up the Wales pecking order this summer by his Dragons boss.

The 28-year-old has been superb since missing the cut for the Six Nations, scoring eight tries in his last seven appearances.

The summer signing from Leicester was inspirational against the Scarlets in the Rainbow Cup opener on Sunday when he scored a double, made five clean breaks, carried nine times and racked up 149 metres with ball in hand.

With Liam Williams, Josh Adams and Louis Rees-Zammit among Wales’ Lions hopefuls, Holmes will hope for summer Test action in a rejigged schedule.

He was not a member of the Six Nations title-winning squad but earned autumn praise from Wayne Pivac, who helped in the Dragons’ pursuit of the five-times capped back at the start of the year.

13.03.21 - Dragons v Ulster - Guinness PRO14 - Jonah Holmes of Dragons races home to score a try.

13.03.21 - Dragons v Ulster - Guinness PRO14 - Jonah Holmes of Dragons races home to score a try.

Dragons director of rugby Dean Ryan believes Holmes' campaign won't be over after the Rainbow Cup.

“Jonah has been working really hard in the background and this summer is probably the best chance to look at a wider group of players,” he said.

“He is physical and fast, and that’s what you need. Wales have some decent wingers but if people are going to be away then I think he will definitely be somebody to discuss.”

Holmes has profited from the Dragons’ attacking game coming to life.

The winger complained in March that he hadn’t seen enough of the ball that wasn’t the case in the Guinness PRO14 run-in.

They scored 13 tries in the last four games then crossed five times against Northampton in the agonising European Challenge Cup loss before stunning the Scarlets with seven.

28.03.21 - Dragons v Edinburgh - Guinness PRO14 - Jonah Holmes of Dragons scores try.

28.03.21 - Dragons v Edinburgh - Guinness PRO14 - Jonah Holmes of Dragons scores try.

"Our attack has opened up. I am not sure Jonah is someone who gets overly animated about chasing ball all day," said Ryan.

"Let’s remember that Rodney Parade was not a ground with grass in December, January and February. It was a tough place to play, and us trying to play like we are now in those conditions would have been suicide.

"In fact, we lost against Connacht because we tried to play too much. As the game has come alive, Jonah has got more opportunities within it."

"We have been really comfortable with our attacking game for two months now, as far back as Leinster.

"Over the festive derbies with the loss of Rhodri Williams and Sam Davies, we just went in our shells a little bit and tried to constrain ourselves.

"Gonzalo Bertranou has opened that up and put pressure on 'Rhods', and suddenly our attacking game has just become the lifeblood of what we are trying to do."

03.04.21 Dragons v Northampton Saints, European Challenge Cup - Jonah Holmes of Dragons gets passed Alex Mitchell of Northampton Saints

03.04.21 Dragons v Northampton Saints, European Challenge Cup - Jonah Holmes of Dragons gets passed Alex Mitchell of Northampton Saints

The Dragons scored seven but shipped five against the Scarlets, although a score by Johnny McNicholl that gave the visitors a sniff actually pleased Ryan.

"The best mistake of the day was Aneurin Owen giving away an interception try because that meant we were going for it," said the boss, whose side travel to Cardiff Blues a week on Sunday.

"You can’t attack unless you are prepared to take what comes with it, and you will make mistakes.

"When you make mistakes in attack it generally ends up under your own sticks, but I really liked what Aneurin did because against Northampton we went into our shells.

"That was an experience for us, we had never led a game by so much. That played itself out again versus the Scarlets and everyone was talking about going and going again.

"You can never guarantee what the outcome will be but at least you can try and control it. That was what was pleasing about Sunday."