CAST your mind back to a chilly Kingston Park in January when Newport Gwent Dragons secured a European quarter-final spot in dazzling fashion.

Hallam Amos and Tyler Morgan were to the fore in a swashbuckling attacking display in Newcastle, the former scoring the former producing two remarkable finishes on the wing and the latter scoring the opener and running amok in midfield.

Their efforts helped earn call-ups to the Wales squad for the Six Nations, a tournament that proved to be another valuable learning experience for the burgeoning pair but didn't lead to Amos adding to his solitary cap or a debut for Morgan.

That changes this afternoon when the Dragons duo line-up in the XV to face an experimental Ireland side.

Fingers crossed the big stage – a Test in front of a capacity crowd in the capital – won't prevent them from displaying the attacking skills that we have got accustomed to seeing at Rodney Parade.

Yet it is the ugly stuff that will convince Warren Gatland and his management team to ink them into their 31-man squad for the World Cup on August 31.

The Wales coach made a bizarre comment in midweek when he said about Amos: "He has been very impressive in training and I couldn't believe how good his footwork is."

That's effectively an admission that he hasn't seen too much of the Dragons live because Amos' pace, power, balance and quick feet has been clear to see, particularly in a very strong second half of last season.

It will be fascinating to see if the 20-year-old can transfer that to the Test stage but the medical student will be doing it from full-back rather than wing. He used to prefer the position but hasn't played with 15 on his back since last September.

The move will put the nitty-gritty under the microscope – the ability to read the game in defence, steadiness under the high ball and, importantly with Amos, the kicking game.

In the first half of the season the youngster endured some costly charge downs – one in a televised game against Edinburgh that led to a Tim Visser try and a pair that saw Newcastle cross in a narrow defeat at Rodney Parade – but he has worked hard with Dragons backs coach Shaun Connor on recognising distance to oncoming defenders and kick trajectory.

Of course we would love Amos to produce some dazzling moments this afternoon when wearing red for the first time (much to his annoyance a grey kit was worn when he played against Tonga in 2013) but responsibility is key at full-back, hence why Gatland prefers Leigh Halfpenny there to Liam Williams.

And, as defence coach Shaun Edwards stresses on today's back page, Tyler Morgan must be defensively sound against Lions tourist Keith Earls.

We know that the 19-year-old Dragons centre has searing pace on the outside break, we know that he has power to get over the line and we know that he has fast feet to make defenders look foolish.

But we must see that Morgan has the defence solidity to ensure that he is in the World Cup squad as midfield back-up to Jamie Roberts and Scott Williams.

Elsewhere there are a handful of other opportunities to impress Gatland, although one imagines that a number of players have their work cut out.

Fly-half James Hook needs to have an absolute stormer and that probably won't be enough while debutants lock Dom Day and wing Eli Walker will be victims of being in fiercely competitive positions.

Blindside flanker Ross Moriarty is an interesting selection and he could well show that he deserves to be Taulupe Faletau's deputy rather than starting number eight Dan Baker.

It promises to be an intriguing contest at a packed Millennium Stadium with the composition of both sides making it hard to predict.

When Warburton & Co are locking horns with O'Connell and his men it's typically a fierce, tight contest and the coaches will hope the same will be the case this afternoon for that's when you learn the most about bright talent.

Wales: H Amos, A Cuthbert, T Morgan, S Williams (captain), E Walker, J Hook, M Phillips, N Smith, R Hibbard, A Jarvis, J Ball, D Day, R Moriarty, J Tipuric, D Baker. Replacements: R Evans, K Dacey, S Andrews, J King, T Faletau, L Williams, G Anscombe, M Morgan

Ireland: F Jones, A Trimble, K Earls, D Cave, F McFadden, P Jackson, E Reddan, J McGrath, R Strauss, M Ross, D Ryan, I Henderson, J Murphy, T O'Donnell, J Heaslip (captain). Replacements:R Best, D Kilcoyne, M Bent, D Tuohy, C Henry, K Marmion, I Madigan, S Zebo.

Referee: Glen Jackson (New Zealand)