FORMER Newport Gwent Dragons winger Will Harries says he is sharper than ever thanks to his return to sevens.

The 27-year-old has been named in Wales' squad for the Commonwealth Games after a four-year break from the shortened format.

Harries, who is currently sorting out his future for next season after his contract with the Dragons expired, last represented his country on the IRB World Series in Las Vegas in 2010 and the three-times capped winger admits his lungs were burning after returning to the fray.

"(Head coach) Gareth Williams asked me to come and train and it has been hard because sevens is a lot different to the 15-man game," said Harries.

"The game has moved on so quickly since the last time that I played four years ago and I've been trying to get my sevens legs and lungs back.

"Fitness is so important because you can defend for four minutes then get the ball after no rest as opposed to getting the chance to get your breath back at a scrum.

"For a back three player it's really good for development; the sevens circuit helped me so much when I was breaking through last time and it's the same again. I'm feeling sharper thanks to the hard fitness work."

Harries made his sevens return for Wales at the FIRA-AER European Sevens Grand Prix Series in Moscow at the end of last month but Glasgow will be up a fair few notches.

Fiji, France and Argentina are the only major absentees from the tournament which will see favourites New Zealand attempting to retain their perfect golden record.

"The Commonwealth Games is a massive stage and I can't wait," he said. "It's exciting that big names like Bryan Habana and Stuart Hogg are involved and it should make for great viewing.

"Every team that is heading to Glasgow would like a medal and we're no different. We have got to build up the performances as we progress through the group games but we have the talent in our squad to be contenders."

Wales play their Pool C encounters with Malaysia, Papua New Guinea and Samoa on Saturday, July 26 before the knockout stages the following day.