Any game against Tonga means the post-match bruise count will be well above average. But Wales should embrace the pain today, says Harri Morgan. Only by travelling the bumpy road can they learn to keep the World Cup wheels turning.
Whizzing down the garden on my first bike – a Raleigh Bluebird, recently freed from its stabilisers – I was equally aware of the danger and the need to concentrate.
Focus on the process: pedal hard, look ahead and keep control of the bars.
Sometimes, such a journey might end prematurely. I would find myself consigned to the deck, overcome by the speed or a change of terrain.
I took the Chumbawamba approach to my bicycle schooling. I went down, then got up again after a few tears, perhaps.
The ‘hurtys’ and grazes derived from speed wobbles, pale into insignificance when contrasted with the monster munches that Wales can expect to have aimed at their ribs this afternoon.
But, to understand our capabilities – to learn – we must expose ourselves to these dangers, the speed wobbles. We must whip away the stabilisers.
Warren Gatland’s selection for the Test match against Tonga – with its notable lack of been there and done that’s – is designed to expose his charges to situations where they might stumble, tumble and perhaps even fall.
With the task of selecting his best 30 lads to take on a Japanese jaunt, looming on the horizon, the Wales boss needs to see how fringe players react in pressure situations: their ability to stick to processes, how they adjust and learn on the job – if they can lose battles and recover to win the war.
At the other end of the spectrum is Dan Biggar, 62 caps and plenty of been there, done that – won this. His selection might be viewed as a nod to pragmatism, the need for a fulcrum in a game that, for the sake of cliche bingo, I will call a banana skin.
A recognition of the need to balance player development with the demand for a result. Victory is far from a given when Wales match up against Pacific Island opposition.
Biggar will provide a stabilising force – that we know. It’s what he does – but as a competitor, he will demand a performance of himself that is not all about him being an elder statesman, offering guidance to those around him, as they seek to find their feet in the test match arena.
For the first time since he nabbed the jersey from Rhys Priestland, a fit Daniel Biggar no longer commands the red No.10 jumper. That rankles, no doubt.
If fit, the former Osprey is a shoo-in for a seat on the plane bound for the Far East.
However, he has no interest in a second fiddle gig, filling in midweek as others rest up for the big one. He’s a lead vocal.
In seeking to wrestle back his claim on the jersey, Biggar will be well aware that it will be his ability to orchestrate the Welsh attack that will be placed under scrutiny from his coaches and the court of public opinion.
For this is where both Gareth Anscombe and Rhys Patchell have gained a yard on the Northampton Saint since his last outing at 10 back in the Six Nations.
Having been starved of tries during last weekend’s defeat of Australia, the crowd at the Principality will be baying for a grand old feast. A dinner of open rugby and mesmeric tries – all washed down with an oggi and an oi.
Conversely, the Welsh coaching ticket will have their fingers crossed that Tonga come to the party and create the type of Test match that shoves two fingers the way of World Rugby’s unnecessary tier system.
It is only in this type of environment that Gatland and co. can properly adjudicate their players – old and new.