Come in No.10 – how numbers add up for rivals
IT will be a contest within a contest when Dan Biggar goes head to head with Owen Farrell in the Ospreys v Saracens Champions Cup clash in Swansea tomorrow evening.
Farrell has just been voted the number one player in world rugby by the influential Rugby World magazine.
But just how does Wales fly-half Biggar match-up to such a player in every aspect of the game? We dish out the marks...
GAME-MANAGEMENT
Biggar 8 Farrell 9 Both are highly-capable game managers. Farrell showed his worth when came off the bench for the Lions against the New Zealand Barbarians last summer and transformed the game by the simple expedient of playing in the right areas.
Biggar is another who is good at thinking his way through games and navigating the ship.
RUNNING ABILITY
Biggar 6 Farrell 7 Neither player is out of the Tony Ward, Phil Bennett, Barry John, Jonathan Davies school of dash and flair.
Biggar has worked hard to shine up his running threat, but there is still scope for him to get better despite the improvements he has made.
Farrell is capable of the unexpected, but we don’t see it often and he prefers to run hard and straight.
KICKING OUT OF HAND
Biggar 8 Farrell 7 Biggar has made up for his shortcomings as an elite runner by perfecting the chip-and-chase and he is also adept at using his boot to set up opportunities for others.
Farrell is a fine kicker of a ball and achieves both distance and accuracy.
It’s a tight call, then; maybe Biggar just shades it.
ABILITY IN AIR
Biggar 9 Farrell 7 No contest here. Farrell is safe and steady at what he does, a player who has nerve and doesn’t often drop high kicks, but Biggar has developed his aerial skills to the point where he is now one of the best in the world in this area.
DEFENCE
Biggar 7 Farrell 7 Both players lack nothing in guts and always have a go.
Biggar’s rate of missed tackles is occasionally higher than you’d expect, but that is because he shirks nothing and attempts to pull off hits that many other No.10s wouldn’t think of attempting.
Farrell, whose dad Andy is Ireland’s defence coach, is similarly brave and willing.
MENTAL TOUGHNESS
Biggar 9 Farrell 9 There are few tougher players mentally than Biggar.
He is a winner to his core and as far removed from being a snowflake as is possible to be.
When he takes a metaphorical knock, he gets up every time.
Farrell is out of the same mould. He has utter belief in himself and it takes a lot to to faze him.
BIG-GAME EXPERIENCE
Biggar 8 Farrell 9 Biggar has played in two league grand finals and a Six Nations title decider with Wales, but Farrell has an edge here, having featured in two Champions Cup showpieces, Aviva Premiership finals, a Six Nations Grand Slam and a Lions Test series.
GOAL-KICKING
Biggar 9 Farrell 9 In his appreciation of Farrell in Rugby World, Stephen Jones asks: “Is there anyone in the game you would prefer to be teeing it up to win a game for your team towards the very end?”
Hard to say, but Biggar wouldn’t be a bad option.
He is the man, remember, who won the Rabodirect PRO12 title for the Ospreys with that late conversion of Shane Williams’s try in Dublin in 2012. Everyone knows Farrell is deadly in front of goal.
But Biggar – 2,132 points for the Ospreys and counting – is right up there with him.
PASSING SKILLS
Biggar 7 Farrell 9 Biggar is a nice passer of the ball, even if he has been criticised for a perceived preference to play deep rather than on the line. Farrell is a deadly distributor. Think back to the Wales-England match in Cardiff last year and the sumptuous ball he threw out to Elliot Daly for the match-winning try.
“It was the perfect pass from Owen,” said Daly later.
“I didn’t have to break my stride at all. I must have been close to top speed. It was a lovely pass.”
Farrell distributes at speed and with accuracy. There are few better passers in the world than the Englishman.
VERDICT
Biggar 71/90 Farrell 73/90