Wales upbeat about Biggar injury
INJURY UPDATE: Wales flyhalf Dan Biggar is “ticking all the boxes” in his bid to be fit for Saturday’s Six Nations match with England, according to Sam Warburton.
Biggar suffered a knee injury during Northampton’s loss to Saracens in the English Premiership last weekend.
Several other Wales stand-offs are already injured, with Gareth Anscombe, Rhys Patchell and Owen Williams all unavailable for the match against England at Twickenham.
Jarrod Evans of Cardiff Blues is set for a first Six Nations start if the influential Biggar is ruled out.
But former Wales captain Warburton, now a member of new head coach Wayne Pivac’s backroom staff, was upbeat when asked about Biggar’s progress on Tuesday.
“He is looking good,” Warburton said. “The initial signs are positive. He doesn’t need a scan.
“It puts our team selection on hold for a while because we have to wait to see how he turns up [Wednesday].
“He’s going to train and do stuff with the physios. But every day so far, the feedback from the physios has been good.”
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The former British and Irish Lions skipper added: “He is ticking all the boxes he needs to. He’s on a good course, so hopefully, with no hiccups, we will have some good news.
“There are no guarantees, but we are confident at this stage. There is a hurdle every day – the training becomes gradually more intense and will climax towards the end of the week.
“So if he can pass that, then all good. We’re taking it day by day, but the first two days have been all good.”
Wales wing George North is also back in training after failing a head injury assessment during the Six Nations defeat by France last month.
Meanwhile, fellow back three flyer Liam Williams, who has not played since Wales’ World Cup quarter-final victory over France in October because of an ankle injury, could feature against England, with loose forward Josh Navidi also pushing for selection following a hamstring problem.
Wales will hope to avoid a third defeat in a row, following losses to France and Ireland, when they face World Cup finalists England.
But you have to go back to their 2012 Grand Slam season for the last time Wales won at Twickenham, a victory achieved under Warburton’s captaincy.
“I remember in 2012 when we won, Ryan Jones said to myself, Dan [Lydiate] and Taulupe [Faletau] to enjoy it because away wins at Twickenham are rare,” Warburton recalled.
“I thought: ‘Ah don’t worry, we’ll come back and do this again’. But you learn it the hard way, it’s a very tough place to go. I only had two wins in my whole career there.”
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