Northampton's forwards coach Matt Ferguson has given a revealing insight into the mindset of Wales skipper Dan Biggar.
Wayne Pivac's No.10 plays his club rugby at Franklin's Gardens, and has repeated his love for the area, the club and the league many times.
The Welshman arrived in Northampton having already been established at the top of the game for a number of years, harbouring a reputation as a serial winner.
Ferguson joined Saints the same summer - in 2018 - as Biggar and he recalled a story that sums up the fly-half.
“In that first pre-season, I was refereeing some conditioning games, and after about three minutes of basically playing touch rugby, I blew the whistle and said ‘Reds 3 Blues 4’ when, to be honest, I hadn’t even been counting," he told i newspaper.
“‘Biggs’ came across to me and asked if we could land the drone that was filming above the game so we could get a countback, because it should have been 4-3 to his team.
"I laughed and said ‘don’t be silly’, and he said ‘no honestly, Ferg, I want the drone landed’.
"He was 100 per cent deadly serious. I didn’t land the drone and the score stayed 4-3 to the Blues – but that tells you all you need to know about Dan Biggar.
"It wasn’t a mad outburst – it was just that he had to have the answer.”
Biggar also has a reputation for being a little bit too expressive on the field. Or at least that was the case before he was handed the Wales captaincy, as he has been noticeably more measured with officials in the Six Nations so far.
You can also complete the survey here
But, nonetheless, that reputation will follow him from earlier in his career.
Ferguson, though, insists you only see the reactions when a perceived injustice has happened to a team-mate, rather than the man himself.
“If Biggs is targeted and has taken a high shot by opposition back rows, you would never see him moan – he just gets up, he is a tough man," Ferguson told the newspaper.
"If someone else gets a high shot, that is when you see the arms in the air, Dan feels he has a role to protect them.”
To get the latest rugby news and analysis delivered straight to your inbox, you can sign up for our Welsh rugby newsletter.
