Wales are adamant that the loss of Leigh Halfpenny for the World Cup will not cost them points. The Lions’ full-back’s unerring accuracy from the tee has been pivotal for them in the last four seasons but Neil Jenkins, the kicking coach, has warned their pool opponents that Dan Biggar was just as deadly.
Halfpenny’s five penalties helped Wales come from behind to beat Italy in their final warm-up match against Italy earlier this month but he damaged knee ligaments 11 minutes from time and has been ruled out of action for six to eight months.
“We have lost one of the best in the world in Leigh but Dan is incredibly close to him if not on a par,” said Jenkins, who in his playing days became the first player to reach 1,000 points in Test rugby. “We are very lucky to have someone of his quality to take over the goal-kicking job.”
Halfpenny was not Wales’s first-choice kicker at the last World Cup, used only for kicks from long distance, but when he was given the role at the start of the following year’s Six Nations he won the game against Ireland in Dublin and kept the role.
“There is pressure on goal-kickers in international rugby but they work day in day out to be the best in the world,” Jenkins added. “Dan does a very good job for Ospreys and he is comfortable taking kicks from the halfway line. Leigh’s range is a bit further but without him we would kick to touch and go from there.”
“Dan is about far more than kicking. He has matured greatly, learning to control his emotions, and he has been outstanding for us. He is a world class outside-half who navigates the side. He has an outstanding kicking game, knows the patterns inside out and the way we want to play. There are not many things he cannot do and he always has a lot to say. I look forward to him having an outstanding World Cup.”
Biggar is unlikely to be risked against Uruguay in Cardiff on Sunday, held back with a number of other frontline players for the encounter against England at Twickenham six days later.
“There will be pressure on England as hosts, as I know from 1999 when the tournament was held in Wales,” said Jenkins. “They will be expected to do well but you have to deal with it. They are a very good side but teams will be looking to knock them off, as we will be next week.
“We have Uruguay first and we have been working out a game plan for them. It is one of only two home matches we have in the World Cup and we hope for a full house at the Millennium Stadium.”
