Wales’s ambition to retain their Six Nations title has been hit by a lengthy injury list but the stand-in captain, Dan Biggar, says they cannot afford to let Ireland dictate in the Dublin opener next Saturday.
Wayne Pivac’s champions, who were within seconds of a grand slam last year before conceding a late try against France in Paris, go into the tournament with several key players sidelined. Biggar takes the captain’s armband in the absence of Alun Wyn Jones, who had shoulder surgery in December, with experienced campaigners such as Ken Owens, George North and Taulupe Faletau also on the treatment table. The Exeter lock Christ Tshiunza is isolating after testing positive for Covid-19.
Wales teams are often greater than the sum of their parts, though, and speaking at the tournament launch this week, the Northampton and Lions fly-half Biggar was in bullish mood. “The mindset we’re approaching the game with is we’re going out there to be positive and fire some shots,” he said. “We want to be quite aggressive in the way we play as opposed to absorbing and letting Ireland come out and dictate.
“If we give Johnny [Sexton], in particular, time and front-foot ball and lots of it, we’re going to be up against it. It’s up to us to make sure we start the game really well and put Ireland under pressure.”
In contrast, Ireland are almost entirely injury-free, although James Lowe is out with a hamstring problem. Andy Farrell’s side enjoyed a heartening autumn campaign when New Zealand, Japan and Argentina were defeated with an attacking approach that has clicked in recent months.
The fortunes of the Irish provinces and Welsh regions in the Champions Cup have also been markedly different: Leinster, Munster, Connacht and Ulster have all progressed to the knockout rounds while winless Ospreys and Scarlets finished bottom of Pool A and Pool B respectively, with Cardiff ninth in Pool B.
Sexton shone in Leinster’s 10-try destruction of Bath last Saturday, which was their second match in seven weeks after a spell of Covid disruption. But the 36-year-old Leinster fly-half believes a relative lack of recent competitive action can be a positive.
“You can look at it two ways: you can say you’re underdone or you can say you’re really fresh and raring to go,” Sexton said. “I think we’re in that [second] bracket. We’ve had enough rugby, guys have been training hard, in the environment I’ve been in [at Leinster] we’ve been training hard, and we’ll get some hit-outs [in camp] that will prepare us really well.”
Pivac, meanwhile, said he admires Ireland’s increasingly free-flowing style but that his players will also aim to keep ball in hand in Dublin. “We are seeing some tweaks and some advances in the style that Ireland want to play,” the Wales head coach said.
“They were certainly ‘playing’ a bit more in that autumn series and I was very pleased to watch them do so well … because we enjoy playing, and we’ve got on the park at any one time 15 guys who like to get the ball in their hands and not just chase kicks or belt rucks.
“They are going to be an improved side from last year’s Six Nations but if you focus on one team, you slip up against Scotland, and we know how good England are and France are.”
Considering Pivac’s injury problems, an opening victory for Ireland at the Aviva Stadium is widely expected, but a wounded Wales can be a dangerous animal.
