Wales U20s head coach Mark Jones says the regions won't be 'disappointed' if they lean on his young players next season.
With budgets being slashed and squad sizes falling, there's plenty of doubt currently about how competitive the four Welsh professional sides can be - or even how big they can build their squads.
Teams have started pre-season with barely enough players and, with a World Cup in France on the horizon, it's very likely that the regions will have dig into their academies to field teams.
That's hardly ideal after a tumultuous season that saw none of the four sides finish in the top half of the United Rugby Championship.
However, with Wales U20s having put a Six Nations whitewash behind them with a strong display in their World Championships in South Africa, Jones believes there are opportunities for his squad members to step up in these testing times.
The likes of scrum-half Archie Hughes (Scarlets), back rower Morgan Morse (Ospreys) and outside-half Dan Edwards (Ospreys) have all impressed and are in a position to push for regional game time.
Wales could finish fifth in the competition, with a play-off match against Australia to come on Friday. And the former Wales wing, who took over the job from Byron Hayward shortly before the tournament, knows from his own coaching experience that giving players opportunities at an early age can be the making of them.
"Sometimes you've got to learn the hard way," he said. "There'll be players that will play regional rugby here who will find it a big jump.
"It goes back to what you do when you're not on the field. If you get your preparation right, it's surprising how quickly you can develop.
"I remember early in my coaching days, we had to play the likes of George North, Ken Owens, Jonathan Davies and Rhys Priestland (at the Scarlets) because of budget restraints at the time. Through that period, those players learned a huge amount.
"We learned a lot about them and they learned a lot about themselves. We were still able to be pretty successful, finishing fifth and then fourth in the league.
"Getting them a huge amount of experience, they were learning on the job. What you find with players, when you put five or six years into players in those situations, you find you end up with Jonathan Davies on Lions tours and Ken Owens captaining Wales.
"Not all of them (succeed), but most of them end up being so much better for the experience. It's tough as a coach as you expect them to win every Saturday, but I'd love to see a lot of these players playing in the URC moving forward.
"It might be off the bench initially or it might be starting, but you've got to give them a crack. They've got to have an opportunity.
"I think it'll be forced a little bit because of budgets and squad depth. But I think if anyone picks any of these players in their regional squads, they won't be disappointed.
"They'll front up and the one thing they'll do is work for them."
