Wales fly-half Dan Biggar is understood to be progressing well with his concussion protocols after suffering a head injury against Ireland last Saturday.
The Northampton Saints playmaker departed Wales' defeat to Ireland in Dublin after just 44 minutes following a clash of heads with Robbie Henshaw. The 30-year-old failed a dressing room Head Injury Assessment shortly afterwards.
However, it's understood he is currently progressing through the concussion protocols as part of the standard Graduated Return to Play (GRTP) programme without any issue.
The GRTP programme is a six step progressive programme that introduces players back to rugby in a safe manner.
Biggar was not allowed to do any exercise or drive within 24 hours of the incident and is unable to play for a at least a week.
After the initial rest period, he will have been allowed to take part in light training and running drills but cannot receive contact until later this week at the earliest, and must remain symptom free.
It's also understood Biggar will have to see an independent consultant before his return to rugby, due to the concussions he suffered during the World Cup.
In Japan, he suffered head injuries in successive World Cup games against Australia and Fiji but returned for the quarter-final against France.
Former Wales coach Warren Gatland insisted that Wales had done "due diligence" before bringing him back, adding: “He felt better after the (Fiji) game, it was clear. So we went through, made sure in terms of consulting the right people and making sure that they were aware of everything, getting him scanned, (the) independent consultant, that was important.
“So we feel that we’ve gone through that due diligence and making sure we’ve covered all the bases in terms of Dan. He has obviously done all the protocols, been fit for three or four days in terms of having passed those, so we are obviously taking all the proper precautions from our point of view."
At the time, the Welsh Rugby Union said it had “worked collaboratively” with World Rugby to deliver the highest level of care for Biggar.
Management of his head injury had included MRI scanning and two consultations with a globally-renowned independent concussion consultant from Australia.
With Owen Williams ruled out of the Six Nations through injury, Biggar returning to play would come as a big boost to Wayne Pivac - with Jarrod Evans the only other fit fly-half in the squad.
