WILL Talbot-Davies is backing Dragons speedsters Rio Dyer, Joe Goodchild and Tom Hoppe to flourish thanks to life on the sevens circuit with Wales.

The 22-year-old made 45 appearances in the World Rugby Sevens Series, scoring seven tries, and played in last year's Sevens World Cup in San Francisco.

Wales have struggled against the big guns for a number of years, and only Japan are beneath them after the opening two rounds of the current season, but the Dragons full-back believes bright prospects can learn a lot from mixing it with the best.

Talbot-Davies was spotted through the Welsh Exiles programme after playing for Solihull School, made his regional debut in 2016 and is now making his mark.

South Wales Argus:

"Sevens has a massive crossover with 15s, it's a pathway that the regions are looking at to develop players and Owen Jenkins joined us this summer and has played really well," said Talbot-Davies, who is poised for a sixth successive start in Saturday's home Guinness PRO14 derby against the Scarlets..

"It definitely has a massive benefit because for back line play there is so much space to exploit – all of your individual skills are magnified because there are one-on-ones all over the pitch.

"You can't really have a weak area or you will be massively exploited and some of the players are world-class and have come over to 15s and hit the ground running. The standard is incredibly high and the top nations take it so seriously."

South Wales Argus:

Wings Dyer and Goodchild featured in the series opener in Dubai, where Goodchild suffered an injury that ruled him out of last weekend's leg in South Africa, while centre Hoppe was a member of the squad at the warm-up tournament in Elche last month.

Dyer, 19, has made an impression in the first two rounds with four tries in eight appearances.

"It was brilliant travelling the world and being a part of a squad that becomes more professional, because the recovery takes its toll on your body with the tough format," said Talbot-Davies.

"It was brilliant for a lot of us and it's brilliant to see Rio and Joe there now, and excelling."

The series resumes at the end of January with the New Zealand leg in Hamilton swiftly followed by the Sydney tournament.

Wales have a new boss at the helm in former Dragons head coach Darren Edwards and will be looking for a dramatic improvement Down Under.

They have just one win from eight fixtures so far with inexperience being exploited by teams who are working towards next year's Olympics in Japan.