Biggar to have injury assessed today

Dan Biggar will be assessed by Wales medical staff today after suffering a knee injury in Northampton’s 27-21 loss to Saracens.

The fly-half went off after 20 minutes at Franklin’s Gardens and although it is thought the injury is not serious he is a doubt for Wales’s game with England at Twickenham on Saturday. If Biggar is ruled out it would be a major blow for Wales with the 30-year-old the only senior playmaker in Wayne Pivac’s squad.

It is likely that Jarrod Evans would start if Biggar were ruled out, in what would easily be the biggest game of the Cardiff Blues man’s career. Evans has won just six caps for Wales and his solitary start for Wales came in a World Cup warmup against Ireland.

No matter who plays for Wales they are likely to be up against a man in a hurry at both club and

Test level in the shape of Ben Earl, who scored from 65 metres against Saints. The back-row forward is set to join up with England again today but blew a few cobwebs off with 80 minutes here. Earl has come off the bench for a total of 28 minutes for head coach Eddie Jones’s side in games against Scotland and Ireland and was keen to get a run out here and gave a dominant display.

“They [England] said, ‘We think you need a game’ and I was absolutely buzzing to get back,” Earl said. “That Wasps result [a 60-10 defeat] really hurt us as a group – the boys that were not involved whether they were with England or Wales were hurting. Me and Nick [Tompkins] came back and we just ripped straight in.”

Earl went on England’s tour to South Africa in 2018 and has been with the current squad since the Portugal training camp in January.

“I have learned a load about how to prepare for games and what it means to be a Test rugby player,” he added. “I have flirted in and around that mix but to actually be involved and learn how the week works has just been awesome. The week at Saracens is different to the week with England. For example we train three days in a row at England and it is about being consistent because you are being judged every moment. It is about putting your best foot forward, recovering in the right way, gyming slightly differently and all the physical stuff that goes with it.”