Dan Biggar's 22-point haul at the Stadio Il Giglio on Saturday moved him to the top of the Heineken Cup points scorers list after three rounds of this season's competition.
The 20-year old fly half posted a 100 per cent success rate against Viadana, with eight conversions and two penalties as his side rattled up an impressive 62-7 win against the Italians. The tally took him to 51 from three games, one more than Dimitri Yachvili of Biarritz and six ahead of Glasgow’s Dan Parks, with Munster’s Ronan O’Gara a further point behind at the halfway point of the campaign.
It was a second 22-point haul for the youngster in the competition so far this season, following on from an identical tally in the opening weekend draw at Leicester Tigers, to go with seven points the following weekend in the 25-24 win over Clermont Auvergne.
Although the Ospreys Academy graduate is proud to sit above some illustrious rugby names on the list at the moment, he is quick to point out that individual accolades come second to the team’s performance. He said:
“I actually looked at the ERC website on Sunday, which is when I saw that the list for the first time. To look at some of the names on there, for me on a personal level it’s very satisfying to just be on there, never mind at the top. Players like O’Gara, Parks, Yachvili, they are great players, so to be above them after three rounds is something I can take real pride from. The fact that I’ve been able to score the points I have just shows how well we’ve been playing in this competition.
“I’ve got a fairly high percentage with my kicking this season so it was nice to keep the standards up on Saturday. I’m in a good groove at the moment, and it was nice to get a few opportunities to add to my tally on Saturday with perhaps not so much pressure on my own shoulders because of the way that the team had built up a solid lead, I really enjoyed it.
“Ultimately, individual points count for nothing at the end of the season. I’d swap all my points if it meant that we got through to the quarters, the semis or even the final. If we achieved that, I’d be happy to settle for scoring just three points to be honest, as what is most important is the team performance. We’re playing well as a team and I’m in a fortunate position being one of the kickers, which means that the boys are creating the chances for me to score and I’m just taking advantage of that.”
Biggar has already put last week’s success behind him as the team prepares for the return match at the Liberty Stadium this weekend, and he warns that the result in Italy will count for little come half past two on Saturday afternoon. He added:
“We put a lot of hard work in last week in preparation for the first game, and I think that showed in the performance, we were very professional in the way we went about our business. We mustn’t let those standards drop now. As much as we were happy with the result, it wasn’t the perfect performance, so we know that we have areas to work on ahead of Saturday. Viadana have shown what they are capable of if we allow them to play rugby, and they will know a lot more about us after last week’s game so we are anticipating a tough afternoon. We know what we’ve got to do, and there’s no doubt, we’ll be focussed on getting it right on Saturday before our attention turns to the Magners League for the next few weeks.”
Tickets for Saturday’s game are available to buy at the Liberty Stadium Ticket Office, via the Ticket Hotline on 08700 400 004, and online at www.ospreysrugby.com.