Gloucester director of rugby Dean Ryan believes Gareth Delve could still force his way into the British & Irish Lions reckoning – despite missing the entire Six Nations Championship.

Gloucester's Welsh No 8 only returned from an anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction on January 31 – but has performed excellently in the seven matches he has started since making his comeback.

The 26-year-old was magnificent again at the weekend, out-playing Wales rival Ryan Jones as Gloucester reached the EDF Energy Cup final.

And Ryan said: "He's an outstanding player and it's only a few weeks since he came back from a pretty serious knee injury.

"Every person I've seen come back from an injury like that normally takes a year to find form – but he had a week to do it and has come back and been outstanding.

"He is an outstanding individual, so I'm not surprised by it, but this was a huge test for him. There were a lot of the Welsh Six Nations squad trotting out for the Ospreys and he had to answer those questions – and I thought he did.

"If [the Lions] are looking for something beyond that, he is certainly someone to consider."