Dan Biggar is set to provide Wayne Pivac with a lift by returning to training after a Lions tour that saw the Wales fly-half sustain a physical battering in the shape of three injuries.
There was never an official update from the tourists on the bump which forced Biggar off the field after just 11 minutes in the final Test of the series against South Africa.
He had previously suffered an ankle sprain on tour and also a concussion.
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But any concern that the knock to his shin in the decisive Test might hamper him into the new season has been allayed by a statement from his club Northampton Saints, with head coach Chris Boyd revealing that Biggar is due to come back into the training picture on Monday.
“He had a couple of weeks swanning around the Greek islands,” said Boyd in response to a query about the 31-year-old and the club’s other Lion of 2021, Courtney Lawes.
“Courtney has been in Croatia for a couple of weeks, so they are tanned up and well rested.
“Those guys are both keen to get going again.
“Dan, for instance, is training with us on Monday.
“Courtney is probably a week behind him, but they seem to be well rested from their South African experience and are almost ready to go.”
Wales head coach Pivac will be relieved.
He has a number of players off limits with injuries even before the season has started, including Justin Tipuric, James Botham, Leigh Halfpenny and George North, while there is uncertainty about how ready long-tem casualties Gareth Anscombe and Rhys Patchell will be for Test rugby this autumn.
And even though Biggar will miss Wales’ match with New Zealand on October 30 because it’s outside the Test window and there is no player-release arrangement in place with Gallagher Premiership clubs, Pivac will presumably want the vastly experienced No. 10 playing a front-line role over the rest of the campaign.
Currently on 92 caps for Wales, Biggar could complete a century for his country by the end of the Six Nations. He is on record as saying that reaching three figures in a red shirt is one of his remaining ambitions in the game.
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