The talented teenage scrum-half has been selected to tour with his country’s age grade side as they face South Africa Schools, England and France in the Rainbow Nation.
Babos made his professional rugby bow with the Dragons at the age of 17 last season and became the first man born in the 2000s to play in the PRO14. His performances on the pitch were enough to fast-track him into the Wales U20 set-up during this year’s Six Nations.
Now Rodney Parade head coach Jackman wants the young gun to step up once again at junior international level.
“Dan was very young when we gave him his professional debut last season,” he said.
“He’s even young for the U18s now. When he played for the senior Dragons team it was a stretch for him at such an early stage of his career.
“The thought process behind him going to South Africa is it will be a great experience for him to tour and hopefully he can be a real leader in that group.
“As a nine, being a game manager, a key decision maker and having leadership qualities is crucial.
“We felt that rather than be potentially behind the likes of Rhodri Williams, Rhodri Davies and Tavis Knoyle at regional level, it would be more beneficial for him to get some more exposure.
“But we are sending him away with an eye on him having a key role to play for the Dragons in the future and possibly this season.”
Babos has a great deal of talent and at just 18 he still has a long career ahead of him.
He will be a key man both for Wales in their three tour fixtures and with the Dragons for years to come.
“Dan has a lot of work to do, but he’s also got a lot of potential,” Jackman added.
“The good thing about him is he has got very good temperament and he has a lot of self-belief. He also gets the ball away very quickly too which is a core skill for a scrum-half.
“The next step for Dan is to continue to develop his kicking game, his defence, and his game management. We are hoping playing for the U18s will help him develop those skills.
“We want to give Dan as much exposure as we can with the end goal of him becoming a key player for the Dragons.”
See the full Wales U18 squad here.
Wales’ U18 International Series fixtures (all times BST):
SA Schools v Wales, Friday 10th August, Boland Landbou, 15:00
Wales v England, Tuesday 14th August, Bishops, 13:15
France v Wales, Saturday 18th August, SACS, 11:15
