Dan Biggar sympathises with Alun Wyn Jones after his Lions tour ended early
The captain has been replaced and the team must focus without him, says Biggar
Dan Biggar sympathises with Alun Wyn Jones as he comes to terms with his tour-ending shoulder dislocation, but the Wales fly-half has urged the British and Irish Lions must move on quickly.
Jones has returned home to Wales to begin treatment on the cruel injury incurred just seven minutes into Saturday’s 28-10 victory over Japan at Murrayfield, concluding his fourth Lions expedition at the earliest opportunity.
Ireland’s Conor Murray has taken over as captain and with the squad departing for South Africa on Sunday evening, Biggar insists they must focus on the players they do have available.
“Obviously it’s pretty disappointing to lose your captain and your talisman five or six minutes into the game,” Biggar said.
“Alun’s pretty down in the changing room, as you’d expect and you’ve only got to look at his record and experience to know he’s going to be a huge loss.
“But we’re lucky in the group that we’ve got a lot of good leaders, good speakers. Things move so quickly on these tours.
“When you’re in camp, the rest of us almost have to put it to one side and look at what we’ve got.
“He’s obviously going to be devastated because it’s been a big focus for him over the past year or so.
“It will be tough for him to take. I know he’s got a young family back home and they’ll take up plenty of his time.
“He’s been in the game a long time and achieved pretty much everything. If there is a silver lining, it’s not something he hasn’t done before.”