Dan Biggar targets danger man Sexton as Wales aim to ‘fire some shots’

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