Why Dan the man’s skills-set make him number one No.10 for Lions line-up...
THERE are three certainties in life. Death, taxes and a groundswell of Lions XVs in the build-up to a tour.
On the latter, you could – and probably have already – look at any of the overwhelming number already offered up by players, pundits, journalists, fans and just about everybody else and split the fly-half selections fairly equally in a four-way tie.
Owen Farrell, Johnny Sexton, Finn Russell and Dan Biggar. Take your pick.
But, as the announcement of Warren Gatland’s squad edges ever closer, the stock of Biggar in particular feels like it is rising rapidly.
A starring role in a Six Nations victory certainly helps, while a brave performance for Northampton Saints against Leicester Tigers on the weekend convinced many more of his starting credentials.
Two-time Lions captain Sam Warburton remarked last week that this might just be Biggar’s year. That’s becoming a popular school of thought.
In short, the Wales fly-half might just be the perfect 10 to down the world champion Springboks this summer.
Biggar has always been unfairly pigeon-holed as a conservative flyhalf.
The truth, though, is that Biggar has just delivered what’s been asked of him. Under Gatland with Wales, that’s largely been risk-averse rugby.
Now, that gritty, determined control – and the multi-faceted kicking game associated with it – will still be a vital part of what Biggar will offer in South Africa if and when he’s selected, as we’ll get to a little later.
But there’s more to Biggar than a passive fly-half, content with steady distribution and game management.
Under Chris Boyd at Northampton and now Wayne Pivac and Stephen Jones with Wales, Biggar has been given the freedom and encouragement to develop his game.
He’s adding some lovely flourishes, such as a couple of no-look passes against Leicester Tigers – as first pointed out by Charlie Morgan on Twitter. He’s also proving himself an able running threat.
At the Saints, Boyd has opened the space for Biggar to hit gaps by flooding him with midfield options and Pivac is doing something similar with Wales.
Pivac’s right-hand man Jones, as experienced a Welsh fly-half as you could wish to meet, is adamant his flyhalves should take the ball hard to the line.
“No matter what drill we’re doing, Stephen is always banging on about first-receivers being in motion and being a threat,” said Biggar’s Wales deputy, Callum Sheedy, recently.
“I think Biggs has been brilliant at that and he’s someone I’m learning off. You watch him every time he catches the ball, he’s always moving onto it, he’s always being a threat or sitting someone down.”
Not only does it hold inside defenders, allowing him to pick off gaps with those late passes as seen with this hard carry against France earlier this year, but it also creates half-gaps to challenge the defence with his own running threats.
Jones and Pivac used Rhys Patchell to great effect with this during their time at the Scarlets, with a running flyhalf forcing the other 14 players to step up at first-receiver - further reinforcing the philosophy of an all-court game.
A similar example of Biggar in motion helped get Wales around South Africa’s defence two years ago.
Wales targeted the Springboks’ midfield, with Jonathan Davies, Biggar and Leigh Halfpenny all running at one South African defender.
Davies pulled it back to an inmotion Biggar, who was able to get the ball wide where George North and Josh Adams are waiting.
Doing something similar this summer with Robbie Henshaw and whoever else starts in midfield to target the South African edge and getting Biggar in motion could help release the wide array of talent out wide the Lions will have at their disposal.
In some people’s eyes, Biggar might never be the triple-threat people want from a Welsh fly-half, but it’s hard to deny Biggar has added some stellar touches to his already well-rounded game. And, of course, as mentioned above, the aerial ability Biggar is known for is likely how Gatland will go about taking on the Springboks.
Gatland copped a fair bit of flak for dispelling England’s chances in the World Cup final against South Africa, quipping they’d already had their ‘final’ against New Zealand in the semi-final. He ended up having a point though.
Wales took on South Africa with a specific gameplan and came within minutes of knocking them off their perch.
England tried to take on South Africa’s biggest strengths – sheer physicality – and came off a distant secondbest.
Playing with a 6-2 split, South Africa effectively have two sets of forwards for the full 80 minutes. That makes them tough to wear down through repeated carries, while it also strengthens their lineout.
So, gaining territory through kicking to compete is the best way to beat them. It disrupts their physical defence and negates their lineout completely. Wales went to the air regularly against the Springboks in Japan. The kicks weren’t always on the money but when they were, Wales were able to get territorial footholds and work their
way back into the contest.
And Biggar was crucial to that. Not just with his ability with the boot, but as one of the finest chasers of a highball in the game at the moment.
One particular passage of play shortly before half-time demonstrated that perfectly.
Wales looked to make the semi-final in Yokohama a kicking battle - with Gareth Davies box-kicking regularly and Biggar the first in pursuit.
They kicked it, and when South Africa kicked it back, they kicked it again.
All the time, Biggar was the man leading the chase.
The end result was Wales earning a scoring opportunity – which they converted into three points – just through their kicking game built around Biggar.
Speak to anyone who toured in 2017 – or even just closely watched the midweek games he was involved in – and you’d quickly build a picture of how Biggar performed at a high level for the British Irish Lions in New Zealand, even if a Test spot eluded him.
Having raised his game in the four years since, he seems like the perfect choice to start this time around.