Tompkins – who won his first four Test caps at centre in the Six Nations earlier this year – has joined the Dragons on loan from English side Saracens.
He has now started training with Ryan’s men with another fellow Dragons newcomer and a Wales back-line team-mate in Jonah Holmes also in situ.
“The first thing I’d say is how delighted we are Nick is interested in coming. This is a player who has played in Champions Cup finals and has won league titles,” Ryan said of Tompkins.
“The opportunity for us to get that level of experience was just too good to miss. I’ve been on record numerous times as saying we’re very early in the development journey.
“To get someone that knows what it looks like at the end of the journey is really powerful to players who don’t know what it looks like.
“We’re really excited and really looking forward to welcoming Nick properly to the club and showing him what the Dragons are about.
“Hopefully we can teach him something and I’m pretty sure he can teach us something.”
New Dragons signing Jonah Holmes
Ryan continued: “There is a huge amount made about culture, but quite often it’s the little things a team keeps really integral about what they do which are the most important.
“People who haven’t experienced a winning environment are constantly looking for magic.
“What’s really powerful is when people who have been successful say ‘No, we just do the same things as you.’ That’s really important. Those little moments are where we see the value of Nick.
“For me the real power in Nick is the confirmation of what we’re doing. He will add something different, but I think he will also help confirm we’re on the right road.”
Tompkins is set to play his first Dragons minutes when Guinness PRO14 action returns behind closed doors on August 22.
He will also be available for Ryan’s men when they face Bristol Bears in the quarter-finals of the European Challenge Cup on the weekend of September 18,19,20.
