In Saturday’s Six Nations match against Italy, Dan Biggar will earn his 100th Wales cap, making him only the seventh Welshman to reach that milestone.
Alun Wyn Jones, Gethin Jenkins, Stephen Jones, George North, Martyn Williams, and Gareth Thomas are the others, with lock Jones set to become the 150th player to wear a cap after being picked in the starting lineup. Since suffering a shoulder injury in late October during Wales’ Autumn Nations series opener against New Zealand, the 36-year-old has not played. He endured two surgery, and most medical experts predicted he would miss the full Six Nations, yet he is back on track and in the second row with Adam Beard.
Following a 13-9 loss to title-chasing and grand slam-chasing France last Friday, Biggar captains a squad with seven changes. Aside from Jones, fullback Johnny McNicholl, wing Louis Rees-Zammit, centre Uilisi Halaholo, scrum-half Gareth Davies, hooker Dewi Lake, and prop Dillon Lewis have all been called up. Liam Williams, Alex Cuthbert, Jonathan Davies, Ryan Elias, and Will Rowlands are among the players who have withdrawn.
Wales’ head coach, Wayne Pivac, praised Biggar and Jones’ achievements, saying:
“Dan and Al are huge players for Wales and have been for many years now. We’ve said with other players reaching 100 appearances, what an achievement that is and for Dan I know he has been looking forward to this moment for a long time.”
“For him to achieve it with Al, who is also getting the milestone of 150 caps – which no other player has ever done – I think it’s fitting for those two to share the day. They have played a lot of rugby together and have a healthy respect for each other. They’ve given so much for the game in Wales.”
