the times | Saturday January 1 2022 1GS 19
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after winning the tournament last
spring and playing three Tests for the
British & Irish Lions in South Africa
with no spectators allowed.
Biggar, who moved to Northampton
Saints in 2018 from the Ospreys, experi-
enced the other side of the coin when
he turned out in front of 72,785 fans in
the 41-27 defeat by Harlequins at
Twickenham on Boxing Day. And the
contrast could not be starker.
“I am just relieved to have signed for
a club in England. I think the rest of the
lads in Wales are pretty frustrated with
it,” he said. “We are probably getting in-
to different things with politics now but
I think everything should be aligned. Ihope for an event like the Six Nations
and for the game up and down the UK
moving forward we get some sort of
sensible outcome.
“We played a lot of games with no
crowds but if you look at the first hand-
ful of games they almost felt like train-
ing games. You lose any advantage of
playing at home.
“It would be great if we could have
fans [for the Six Nations]. You see what
a difference it makes to an occasion.
You saw it in the autumn, getting
crowds back.”
Wales are also due to host France and
Italy in Cardiff, and Biggar could win
his 100th Welsh cap against the Italians.“When it’s an attack day, I’ll leave it
to Finn and Ali [Price], who are
outstanding and have really grown as
leaders in the last couple of years,
and the same can be said for Jamie
[Ritchie] when it’s a defence day.
“The last captain’s run day in the
autumn, before Japan, I didn’t say a
thing. I just left it to Rambo [Stuart
McInally] because I know the boys
have got huge experience, speak
incredibly well and are very detailed.
It’s up to me to go out there and do
my job.
“I don’t want to be remembered as
someone who did all these
motivational speeches. I want to be
remembered as someone who works
really hard and does his job. The fact
is we’ve grown as a team in the last
couple of years because everyone has
a responsibility, a role, and that makes
everyone’s life easier, especially mine.”
In that Japan game, Hogg went over
for his 25th Scotland try, a record all-
time haul by any individual. All being
well, he will hit a century of caps
some time in World Cup year, and
there are already those who hail him
as Scotland’s best player of all time.
He still, however, allows himself the
odd thought about that debut, when
Romain Poite wrongly disallowed
what would have been his maiden
score for a non-existent knock-on.
“We actually had a conversation
about it when he refereed us for his
last international against Australia in
November,” Hogg says. “I said, ‘You
refereed my first international, now
you’re refereeing me on your last.’
He said, ‘Yes, I know I should have
awarded you a try.’ I was like, ‘Mate, I
wasn’t going to bring it up, but seeing
as you have.. .’
“I’ve still got many an individual
goal, and they’ll remain in house in
case they don’t happen. As a little kid
growing up, playing for Scotland is all
I ever wanted, and I still pinch myself.
It’s something I will never, ever take
for granted. I want [cap number] 89,
I want 90, I want to play as many as
I possibly can.”
Hogg last week took the unusual
step of issuing a statement denying
speculation that he was set to join
Russell at Racing 92 at the end of
the season.
“I was lucky enough to re-sign last
year during the Covid times, but what
wasn’t disclosed was the length of
time I’d signed for,” he explains.
“People thought it was just a year and
that I would be leaving at the end of
the season.
“I was reading some not very
pleasant comments and I just wanted
to squash it. I don’t understand why,
firstly, I would want to leave one of
the best clubs in Europe and,
secondly, why I would end up in Paris.
They’ve already got Finn there, the
king of Scotland.
“I love it here, the family are
settled. I just wanted to get rid of all
that crap that was going around. I’ve
got a fair bit of time left here at
Exeter. I don’t plan on playing
anywhere else.”Fan ban will hurt Wales hopes, says Biggar
Adam HathawayDan Biggar, the Wales fly half, fears
that his country will be defending their
Six Nations title on the back foot if
crowds are still banned from the Princi-
pality Stadium when the tournament
kicks off.
Mark Drakeford, the first minister of
Wales, this week refused to give any
time frame for when turnstiles will
open again in Welsh grounds, and
Wayne Pivac’s side are due to host Scot-
land on February 12.
The 32-year-old Biggar knows all
about playing in front of empty standsDAN MULLAN/GETTY IMAGESExeter Chiefs v
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