WALES have received a massive boost ahead of Saturday’s clash with England with the news that fly half Dan Biggar looks certain to line up at Twickenham.
There were fears that Biggar – Wales’ most impressive performer in their stop-start Six Nations campaign – might miss both remaining matches after limping off with a knee injury twenty minutes into Northampton’s clash with Saracens last weekend.
But when he returned to the international set-up the Wales doctors decided he would not even need a scan, and that he would be fit to go after a few days’ rest.
Assistant coach Sam Warburton revealed that Biggar was back in light training today and he said he was “very confident” he would face England.
Warburton commented: “He’s looking good. The initial signs are positive. He doesn’t need a scan, and we just need to see how he feels over the next couple of days.
“So far the feedback from the physios has been great. He’s ticking all the boxes he needs to. Dan is on a good course so it looks like good news.
“In a game of this magnitude and a player of his importance, you would be happy to wait until the last possible moment before making a decision. But the way it looks now, we’re very confident he’ll be ready.”
Warburton, who captained Wales to their last win at Twickenham during the 2015 World Cup, said they can also call on British Lions win Liam Williams and back row powerhouse Josh Navidi.
Both were forced to miss the first three Championship matches through injury.
And George North has passed the concussion protocols after being laid out in a collision with Gael Fickou in Wales home defeat against France.
North will see an independent assessor as an added precaution, since this was the sixth time he has been concussed – although it was the first time in the last four years. But Wales are confident he will be given the all-clear.
Williams has not played since damaging an ankle just before the World Cup semi-final in October. But Wales may have to gamble on his fitness after top try scorer Josh Adams was ruled out of the last two games.
Navidi was expected to miss the entire Six Nations campaign after pulling a hamstring in training just before the opening match against Italy. But Wales could do with his abrasive approach against the giant England pack.
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Warburton added: “Liam definitely looks ready. He’s back in full training, and if you ask him, he was ready to play in our last game against France.
“If you just watch training and you had to pick out one of the British and Irish Lions players, your eyes would be drawn straight to Liam.
“With some guys you might wonder whether you should play them without a warm-up game. But not Liam He’s just one of those guys who will relish being thrown back into the cauldron
“Josh is also training flat out again – we do some pretty demanding drills and he has absolutely nailed it. I saw it and just thought: ‘He’s ready’.
“From a coaching and back row perspective, it’s great to have that physicality, that dynamism, ball-carrying ability, and work on the floor he brings. He’s been a big player for us in the past few years.
“It will be great to have some big game players back for such a tough match.”
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