Not much love out there for Biggar... but he is best man for the job against England
Even before it was confirmed that Wayne Pivac would select Dan Biggar at fly-half for Saturday’s match against England, there was a substantial negative reaction from what appears to be a majority of supporters.
There is not a lot of love for Biggar at the moment as the Welsh fans reaffirm their desire for an attacking stand-off, harking back to the days of Barry John, Phil Bennett and Jonathan Davies.
Unfortunately, those players are not available and of the ones we have to choose from, I too would start with Biggar against England.
His critics have a point. He is not a natural attacking fly-half, he doesn’t take the ball as flat as he could and he doesn’t threaten the defensive line as well as the others.
The old-fashioned term is that he doesn’t get the line moving, and many are saying that there is no way we can beat England with Biggar at 10.
Some of these are valid points, but overstated in my view.
Wales can definitely beat England with Biggar at flyhalf.
He was playing when Wales won in the World Cup at Twickenham.
He was also the fly-half during Wales’ unforgettable hammering of England in 2013. There were some pretty decent tries scored in that match too.
So even if he is not the best option in attack, he is by no means terrible.
However, in every other aspect of the game, Biggar is head and shoulders above the others.
He is the best goal kicker, he is the best kicker from hand and he is the best tackler.
None of this, I feel, is open to debate.
He also has two other pretty impressive qualities.
Firstly, how physically competitive he is. This has been to his detriment at times, but on the whole his tenacity is remarkable.
When Wales are in the trenches, it’s players like Biggar you need by your side.
Secondly is his ability in the air. He is probably Wales’ finest aerial exponent.
With England expected to have a backline full of kickers, having Biggar there to win high balls in attack and defence may be invaluable.
The other aspect to consider ahead of Saturday is whether or not Wales are actually going to try and move the ball to any great extent anyway.
Picking Jon Davies and George North in midfield implies that getting the ball wide is not high on the list of priorities, even with the threats Wales possess on the wings.
The alternative to Biggar is either Jarrod Evans or Callum Sheedy.
Of the two, Evans is the most attacking. He has the rare ability to square up an attack, take the ball to the line and make decisions as he reads the defence.
As such, he can carve open defences like few others.
Given a sound platform, options around him and a slightly disorganised defence, Evans would be devastating.
However, this sort of opportunity may be infrequent at best on Saturday and I would say that in every other aspect of the game, Biggar would be a better option. Sheedy is a good player. He benefits from the fact that plays in a very fine Bristol team.
He has one of the best players in the world, Semi Radradra, outside him, who is able to attract the defence and get him out of trouble when needed.
The team is committed to playing high-tempo, high-risk rugby. How effective he would be in the white-hot environment of a Wales v England match, I am not so sure.
I accept it is not a popular choice, but I would go for the consistency and all-round game of Biggar ahead of the others. But I am not alone when it comes to dilemmas like this.
Graham Henry picked Neil Jenkins ahead of Arwel Thomas. Steve Hansen and Warren Gatland picked Stephen Jones ahead of James Hook.
They valued stability and structure ahead of creativity and uncertainty.
It’s true that Gatland flirted with Rhys Priestland and Gareth Anscombe, but Biggar is approaching 90 caps, almost all of which were won under Gatland during one of Welsh rugby’s most successful periods in history.
So for those quick to point out his weaknesses, have some
Wales can definitely beat England with Biggar at fly-half GWYN JONES
Gwyn Jones is a part of S4C’s Clwb Rygbi Rhyngwladol team. Coverage of Wales v England gets underway at 4pm today on S4C and S4C Clic. This weekend, S4C will also show coverage of Cardiff Blues v Munster, and full match replays of Ulster v Ospreys (Saturday, 9.35pm) and Zebre v Dragons (Sunday, 3.30pm).
regard for his strengths too.
Although I enjoy nothing more than talking about flyhalves, Saturday’s match will depend on whether or not Wales can match and nullify the English pack.
Not that they have shown anything to be overly worried about in their first two games.
Their three big momentum players, Maro Itoje, Billy Vunipola and Owen Farrell have been indisciplined or lethargic.
All three are under pressure to improve and I wonder if that desperation will make them try too hard.
All three are short on rugby and without the confidence of their club form to fall back on; if Wales can put them under pressure, will they force things too much and make mistakes?
Having said that, we don’t really know how good Wales are either at the moment.
They have ridden their luck and showed a few flashes of brilliance, but they are yet to produce a dominant performance where we see their attacking pattern create opportunities.
Despite England’s faltering start, I fear they may be too strong for us on Saturday.
But there is not much in it and no-one would be surprised if Wales pulled off another unlikely win.
WALES boss Wayne Pivac addressed a range of issues as he named his team to face England in their hunt for the Triple Crown this weekend.
This is what Pivac had to say ahead of the Principality Stadium clash with the old enemy...
Question: You had six options at centre, why did you go for Jon Davies and George North? Wayne Pivac: We think George has played well for us when available at
13. He brings a lot of excitement to the position, he’s got that outside break, he’s big and strong.
He can do the donkey work in the middle of the park if he needs to.
Jonathan brings a wealth of experience and we look at him as a 12, not as a 13. The last time he played for us was at 12 against Italy and I thought he did a good job in attack and defence on that day.
In terms of preparation that day, it was just homework on the computer and the matchday warm-up. Johnny [Williams] was down to start in that game and we weren’t going to use Jonathan at all. He’s had a good week of preparation under his belt in combination with George, and also how players have looked in training is important as well. Foxy is looking very good from our point of view and when he pulls that Welsh jersey on, he never lets the team down.
It’s a big game and he’s got plenty of experience.
Q: Jonathan Davies hasn’t really looked himself and is a bit short of game time recently – what gives you the confidence that he’s ready? WP: Because we’ve picked him at 12, not 13. We think, at the moment, Jonathan will do a very good job at
12. He’s got that left foot, it gives us a kicking option. Otherwise, we would have probably gone into the game without a genuine kicking option in the midfield.
It just gives us more strings to our bow. Look, we all know that when Jonathan puts on the Welsh jersey, he doesn’t let his country down.
We’re expecting another one of those performances from him. He knows that he’s been given a good opportunity here. He’s fought really hard since the World Cup to come back from some unfortunate injuries but he’s remained a true professional, worked very hard to maintain the condition he gets himself into, which is exceptional.
What the public and you guys unfortunately don’t see is the work that goes on behind the scenes in the gym, the running outside and the training sessions. He’s been excellent.
This morning he looked sharp and I expect him to be the same this afternoon.
He’s very keen and sometimes, when you move guys in one - like George - then it’s a new lease of life. It can extend a player’s career.
I don’t think Jonathan is any different.
Q: What are the attributes that make you think Jonathan’s future lies at 12 rather than 13, where he’s played the bulk of his career? WP:
As you get a little bit older, sometimes a half-yard of pace might go. We’re not suggesting that he’s lost a half yard of pace but there have been plenty of other players that have gone down that route and moved in.
He’s got the experience. Don’t forget, he started his Test career at 12 with Jamie Roberts at 13. So it’s not foreign to him.
His last Test match for us was at 12 and he did a very good job in partnership with George. It’s a position that I’m personally very comfortable with.
Q: Give us a sense of how long you agonised over the big calls in the backline? WP:
It’s a position we’re happy to be in. A couple of weeks ago, we were scratching our heads as to how to go about the make-up of the midfield.
But the medical team do such a good job in getting guys back available for selection and it made it a bit of a headache.
It’s a good headache to have. We think we’ve got the three guys that will get the performance we need in that area of the field.
Q: George North will be the youngest person to win 100 caps – that’s some feat? WP:
A lot of that was done under Warren [Gatland] and what he has done in the past has been well documented. Certainly with this group, he seems to have a new lease.
The challenge of moving into the centre has also excited him. He had a couple of weeks in the autumn when we sent him back to play club footy and he’s responded really well to all the challenges we’ve put in front of him. It speaks volumes of the player.
He’s still highly motivated and wants to play for Wales well past 100 games. I’m sure he’s going to do that with the attitude he’s showing at the moment and the form he’ll bring to the 13 jersey.
Q: Do you think he can go on and surpass Alun Wyn Jones’ record? WP:
He’s certainly the one that’s going to challenge that number if he stays fit and his form continues to hold.
With the challenge of going into 13 and the way he’s taken that on in our environment has just been sublime.
The big fella is very keen to keep pulling the jersey on. He’s still got that appetite that he had as a youngster. I think it’s probably turning the clock back a little bit, with this new challenge, as is Jonathan Davies.
Q: Kieran Hardy gets in ahead of Gareth Davies – what’s the thinking? WP:
There are two thoughts. One is form. He did everything that we wanted him to do when he went on under pressure against Scotland. He ticked the box in terms of being a young man under pressure.
With Gareth, it’s well known what he can do off the bench, when defences start to tire. On this occasion, we’ve turned things around the other way.
It’s going to be a big occasion for Kieran, obviously, and he’s excited. We’ll learn a lot from it, as will he.
Q: What have you made of England and their form? WP:
As this competition goes on, they’re going to grow like all sides. Having dropped the first game, that makes them even more dangerous because the pressure comes on in this particular match.
They won the Autumn Nations Cup, they have a proven history in recent Six Nations. From our point of view, they’re the team to beat.
They pose a very big challenge.
Q: Is this a free hit because you’ve won a couple or have expectations gone up?
WP: Within the camp – we’re spending a lot more time together at the moment – a couple of wins gives you confidence. We’re wanting to build on each performance and we realise internally that we’re not the finished article and there is plenty of work to be done. This game, for us, will be a very good test to see that rate of improvement. We’ll be looking to put out a good performance.
I think we’re going to need to perform well over 80 minutes to have a chance to get a result. If we have a first 25 minutes like we did in Scotland, we could be out of the game. We’re well aware of the threat England pose. They’re a very good side and they’re improving over each performance like all sides. They’ve got pedigree in this competition and history behind them in recent times.
We know we’re going to have to play well over 80.
Q: Can you learn anything from Scotland’s win over them? WP:
That was continued pressure, wasn’t it? Over 80 minutes, in pretty tough conditions for both sides.
Scotland played very well, they defended very well and, obviously, we’re going to have to defend well throughout the 80 minutes.
There are going to be times when we’re going to be under pressure. We can learn a lot from what Scotland did in terms of their application to their defence.
Q: Which team has more pressure on them? WP:
There is pressure on every match for different reasons. There is pressure on us to back up two wins with a solid performance. There has been talk about 14 men v 15 men.
Hopefully there will be 15 v 15 and we’ll be under pressure at times – it’s how we cope with that pressure.
We welcome it. We’re wanting to improve as a side and keep building. This is the perfect opposition after a week’s rest. There’s pressure on both teams for different reasons.
Q: Eddie Jones said the pressure is on the referee? WP:
There’s no secret that World Rugby are wanting to open the game up a bit more and create space so that we see an entertaining spectacle. I think everybody wants that heading towards the World Cup.
There is always pressure on match officials. There is pressure on everyone involved. Nothing changes really.