THOSE looking to impress Warren Gatland before he picks his squad for Wales’ tour of New Zealand this summer have the perfect platform to do just that at the Principality Stadium on Saturday – and Nic Cudd is one of those hoping to catch the Kiwi’s eye.

Cudd will face another uncapped in-form number seven in James Davies when Newport Gwent Dragons meet the Scarlets in the second of two Judgement Day Welsh derbies (kick-off 5pm).

While Cudd’s primary focus is on helping the Dragons cinch a first league win since January 29, and in the process denting his former region’s Guinness Pro12 play-off ambitions, he knows a strong individual performance would do his chances of being on the plane Down Under no harm.

“There are a few boys with us looking to impress the international coaches and this is a great occasion to do that,” he said.

“It’s a Welsh derby and it’s at the Principality Stadium in front of 60-70,000 supporters.

“Like any Welsh player, the ambition is to play for Wales. I’ll just keep doing what I do and keep playing as well as I possibly can and see what happens.

“There are a lot of good sevens in Wales at the moment and the competition is tough. I’ll keep plugging away.

“It’s up to the selectors at the end of the day and what they want to do.”

Going up against the likes of Akapusi Qera last weekend was a great experience for Cudd, albeit in a game the Dragons ultimately ended up losing.

The aim now is for a strong finish to the season, with the Dragons rounding off their campaign away to Zebre after the Scarlets clash on Saturday evening.

“We want to finish off the season with two wins,” he added. “The Scarlets have had a very good season in the Pro12 and they’ll be going for the play-off spots – we have a big say in that.

“We’ll be going out there to win the game and play to the best of our ability.

“There’s plenty of motivation in the squad. We know we haven’t had a good Pro12 this season and all the boys want to put that right.

“There’s the extra factor that it’s in the Principality Stadium and it’s against the Scarlets.

“There’ll be a lot of our players wanting to go out there and impress on a big stage.”