Welsh will be punished if Sexton is given ‘free ride’, warns Biggar

Dan Biggar and Wales will have to contend with the significant threats of both Storm Ciara and Johnny Sexton, the Ireland captain, in Dublin today.

Biggar leads the head-tohead record when the No10s have faced each other at Test level, winning four games to Sexton’s three, while they both featured in a 16-16 draw in 2016.

Sexton scored all of Ireland’s 19 points in the win over Scotland last weekend, with Biggar stressing that Wales must do their best to disrupt his rhythm.

“He has been almost Ireland’s best player for the last 10 to 12 years. One of the best blokes that you will meet,” Biggar said. “He knows their game inside out, will be driving them around the field, and it is up to us to try to make life as uncomfortable for him as possible. If we give him a free ride and let him dictate play, we have seen how good a player Johnny is.”

Biggar and Sexton toured together with the British and Irish Lions in New Zealand in 2017, giving the Wales No10 an opportunity to see Sexton’s qualities up close.

“I was a bit surprised by how much focus went into every little detail of his game. We know he tries to take his teams around the park, but absolutely everything is crossed off, whether it is his role, the nine’s role, the centres’ role. He is not satisfied with how something is run until it is absolutely spot on.”

Wales, who have handed Saracens centre Nick Tompkins a first Test start, are making a concerted effort to improve in attack, although the stormy conditions at the Aviva Stadium may well mean they revert to a more controlled approach. Meaning no repeat of Biggar’s outstanding through-the-legs pass to set up Josh Adams’s second try against Italy.

“Wayne [Pivac, the head coach] and Stephen [Jones, the attack coach] in particular have been quite hot in terms of if the ball is there to be played, if we have shortened them up and there is space to play to, let’s play to it, let’s back our skill set,” Biggar said. “If we are 13-12 up with five minutes to go, we may look for a more pragmatic option.”