Wales Six Nations ace Cory Hill is set to give Wayne Pivac a huge boost ahead of their Grand Slam defence.
The lock, who captained Wales to the double over Argentina in June last year, is on the brink of a return to action after an agonising 10-month injury absence.
He could return for the Dragons as soon as Friday night for their crunch European Challenge Cup clash with Worcester in Newport.
The 27-year-old hasn’t played since damaging an ankle whilst scoring a try as Wales overcame a 10-3 half-time deficit to beat England 23-10 amid memorable scenes at the Principality Stadium 10 months ago.
His try that day sent Welsh fans wild and provided the spark for them to go on to conquer Eddie England and eventually win the Grand Slam.
Hill barged his way through Billy Vunipola and Harry Williams to score as Wales roared to victory, but left the field shortly afterwarss and scans revealed the damage to his ankle.
Hill's leadership role alongside skipper Alun Wyn Jones was deemed so valuable to Wales’ World Cup cause that Warren Gatland took him to Japan even though he was still injured.
However, Hill was sent home and replaced in the squad by Bradley Davies after it became clear he would not be fit to play during the tournament.
But he’s ready to ready to return to combat with Dragons director of rugby Dean Ryan revealing: “There is nothing stopping Cory playing on Friday ... it’s whether I select him!
“I haven’t made my mind up yet but there is nothing stopping him running around and playing a game, which is great.”
Ryan has to weigh up whether to start with Hill in a match in which victory would put the Gwent region in charge of Pool One and firmly on-course for the quarter-finals of Europe’s second-tier tournament.
“Cory is frustrated after this summer and is desperate to get out there, I just want to make sure we get him out there at the right time because I don’t want him to go backwards,” said the former England back-rower.
“But he is starting to spend more time on the training field, which makes him an option. There’s no better place to lead than on the field.
“It has been a long slog to get him to this place and the medical team have done some great work in getting him ready and right because chasing a World Cup across the summer has left him in quite a disadvantage.”
Ryan said of the Dragons' World Cup contingent: “It’s been difficult for them because some of our most influential players I have probably only met over the last couple of weeks.
“We set off almost without them because of the World Cup. For a club that has gone through as much change as this it’s quite difficult for them to know where they sit, but they have been fantastic.”
The Dragons hope another Wales star, Ross Moriarty, may be declared fit to return for their first festive derby, against the Scarlets at Rodney Parade on December 21.
