PETER JACKSON
THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW
Throughout his long Ireland career, the peerless Jackie Kyle missed a mere four matches in 12 seasons, a time when those running the game abided by the showbiz mantra: “Always leave them wanting more.”
In the immediate post-war era and beyond, they rationed international fixtures per country to no more than five a season and then only on the occasion of a rare tour from the Southern Hemisphere. More often than not, the home Unions made do with their four Five Nations fixtures and nothing else.
So after 46 matches for Ireland, Dr Kyle bowed out in 1958 as the world’s most-capped player. The exponential growth of Test rugby can be gauged by the fact that his current successor, Johnny Sexton, has played more than twice as often for Ireland during roughly the same 12-season span.
Sexton took a week or two longer than 12 years to compile his century for Ireland than the good doctor took over his sub-50, reaching three figures ahead of a contemporary who started a full season before the veteran Dubliner.
It is a tribute to Dan Biggar’s selfbelief and mental fortitude that of the select few fly-half centurions, none has taken longer to get there than the Wales captain – 13 years and four months from teenaged debut against Canada in November 2008 to head honcho against Italy yesterday.
And yet at 32, he is four years younger than Sexton whose last ambition, that of taking Ireland to their first World Cup final next year at the age of 38, will require a level of endurance surpassing anything he has achieved hitherto.
In one sense, Biggar’s test of time differs from Sexton’s. In the Welshman’s case it demanded living with the recurring danger of rejection at various stages of a lengthy apprenticeship, most of it served under the gaze of an often unforgiving public.
James Hook’s early injury against Canada in autumn 2008 gave the new boy a longer than expected debut, long enough to kick all four goals in a predictably comfortable home win. He then went back to learning his trade.
Hook, Biggar’s goalkicking predecessor at the Ospreys, was then the leading contender to the fly-half roost ruled by Stephen Jones. The pecking order beneath those two changed with kaleidoscopic regularity, hence Biggar fluctuating from third to fifth depending on the fortunes of Nicky Robinson and the-then uncapped Rhys Priestland.
Over the course of the first four seasons after his capping, Biggar played 11 times for Wales. Over the four ensuing seasons, his total more than quadrupled to 49.
“Biggar’s career splits neatly into seven years of famine followed by seven years of feast”
In a biblical dimension, Biggar’s career splits neatly into seven years of famine (28 internationals) followed by seven years of feast (72 internationals) and the captaincy to boot, retained in spite of Alun Wyn Jones being rushed back despite not having played a match of any kind since October.
Against France, Biggar displayed the mastery of the kicking craft, out of hand as distinct from off the tee. Just about every Garryowen, every punt, every chip and every shot at the corner hit its target, a man completely at ease in the most demanding position of all.
For the time being at least, he has taken almost all the sting out of the endless Welsh debate over who should wear the most revered jersey of all, some achievement given the subject carries enough baggage to sink a Cunard liner.
Biggar knows better than to read too much into that, appreciating more than most that the argument is never over. In an often cruel theatre of sport where precious little stays the same for a day or two, he need only look at Gareth Anscombe as a prime example.
The New Zealander might still have been ruling the roost but for the knee injury which took 30 months out of his career within months of his steering Wales to the Grand Slam three years ago. Biggar sat through most of it on the bench. At least he was part of it, unlike an earlier period when Priestland ran the show. For 18 months from November 2010 to June 2012, Biggar’s Test experience amounted to all of five minutes, as a late substitute against the Wallabies in December 2011.
Throughout a time when Wales played 23 matches and all but one without him, Biggar worked all the harder on his game, often on his own at the Ospreys’ training base on the edge of Swansea.
He’s always had much of Jonny Wilkinson’s worth ethic without the World Cup winner’s crippling injuries. The savage chunks taken out of the Englishman’s career explain why he fell three short of a century, hence his conspicuous absence from the chosen few to have got there.
The best betting sites
