Peter Jackson column: Dan Biggar is the man to lead Ospreys on glory run

Dan Biggar goes to work this afternoon in a place surrounded by volcanic mountains, a suitable location for an Osprey who has taken his trade to new heights.
Dan Carter may have persuaded Barry John to abdicate after a 44-year reign as the king of fly-halves but, when it comes to the best of the rest, Biggar rules the roost. Considering the global competition – Nicholas Sanchez, Johnny Sexton, Bernard Foley, Beauden Barrett – that is some feat.
In characteristic ‘bring-it-on’ fashion, Biggar will defy Clermont Auvergne to knock him off his perch and relish the challenge in a city surrounded by a range of dormant volcanoes in the Massif Central. The opposition are used to running roughshod over anyone daring to tread in their path at the Stade Marcel Michelin, appropriately so for a club financed by the tyre titans.
In their strategic planning for today’s tie, Franck Azema’s coaching brains trust will have devoted a respectful amount of time to Biggar and how to prevent him treating them to another demonstration of his high-altitude acrobatics. The Welsh spy in their camp, Jonathan Davies, will have assured them that his compatriot does not lack self-belief.
Biggar is about as short of confidence as Manchester City are short of cash. He has been talking a good game ever since he played his first for the Ospreys at 18 and for Wales at 19. The difference now is that he plays an even better one.
In doing so, he has redefined the role of the fly-half by adding a new dimension.    Just as Jonny Wilkinson put a sledgehammer tackle through the old-fashioned concept of the No.10 as an artist who refused to dirty his hands, so Biggar has taken it above and beyond even Wilkinson’s reach.
Using the same workaholic approach, the Welshman has taken the trade up to where it’s never been.  With a priceless mixture of precision, courage and soaring athleticism, he has perfected the kick-chase all on his own.
The garryowen has been part of every fly-half’s arsenal since the year dot, an up-and-under hoisted on the strict understanding that others will hare after it in the hope that one may catch it. Biggar’s mastery of geometrics enables him to turn a hazardous business into a one-man operation.
He will never improve on the kick, chase and catch that put a try on the plate for Gareth Davies against the Springboks at Twickenham last month because it is not possible to improve on perfection. The more he practises, the luckier he appears to get!
Even when other elements of his game are on the blink, as his place-kicking was against Exeter last Sunday, Biggar can still make a match-winning contribution because there is so much to his game. Clermont will be on their guard in a stadium where they have reeled off 17 straight European wins over British and Irish opposition since Sale won there seven years ago.
Nick Abendanon, for all his ability as a dazzling broken-field runner, is not the biggest of full-backs. Neither is Willie le Roux and didn’t Biggar leave him clutching at thin air during last month’s quarter-final?
Carter’s Test retirement having left the international arena to Dan The Man from Swansea, his job today will be to continue where he left off in the World Cup and put a sock in the perennial sideshow of slagging off the Welsh regions for their failure in Europe.
Knowing the man, he will expect the Ospreys to do just that.