The unlikely Welsh rugby player Dan Biggar rates as the toughest he faced

Former Wales star Dan Biggar has selected the five toughest opponents he has faced over the course of his career, with some of the biggest names in rugby history making the list.

The 35-year-old Toulon fly-half has earned a reputation as one of the fiercest competitors in world rugby during a career that has seen him play at three World Cups, on two Lions tours and for clubs in three different countries, as well as make over 100 appearances for Wales and win three Six Nations titles.

However, there are some players who he has been left simply blown away by, with Biggar revealing his top five to comedian Mike Bubbins on BBC Wales' new show Scrum V Top 5.

READ MORE:The Wales team Warren Gatland should now pick against Australia with everything on the line

READ MORE:Mason Grady ruled out of autumn as Wales wing to undergo surgery

From the forgotten Welsh flanker who was tipped for superstardom to the "absolute freak" who strikes terror into opponents, here is that list in full with all the detail from the man himself.

5. Nic Cudd

The flanker played alongside Biggar at age-grade level, joined the Dragons in 2012 after coming through the Scarlets academy. Known as a true warrior of Welsh rugby, Cudd went on to play 119 times for the Rodney Parade outfit before retiring in 2022.

Biggar: "I played with Nic at U16s, U18s and U20s and played against him for the Dragons. I suppose [when] people will talk about Welsh No.7s, they will talk about Sam Warburton and Justin Tipuric but if I take you back to U16s, U18s level, he was the Sam Warburton, he was the Justin Tipuric. They were playing second fiddle to him.

"I'll always remember, we'd just been named in the U16 squad and my mum was down in Llanelli, just outside Stradey Park, when she rang me and said: 'I've just seen Nick Cudd go and do his own training on the side of the pitch'. For me, that was if I'd just seen Jonah Lomu or Cristiano Ronaldo!

"That summed it up. He set the bar at U16s, U18s in terms of his professionalism and the way he played the game. He was the type of player that when I played against him, he made life so difficult for a No.10. He would be within half a yard of you all the time, whether it was early or late. You got isolated and he would turn the ball over.

"He was so, so good and had it not been for the brilliance and longevity of Justin Tipuric and Sam Warburton, we'd potentially be talking about him in that same bracket. He came up against two of the best No.7s that not just Wales have produced but probably world rugby has produced in a long, long time, so he was a bit unlucky. The way the game was at that time, you needed bigger guys."

Wales v Fiji podcast

4. Josua Tuisova

The Fijian bulldozer has been terrifying defences for years and showed exactly why he is nicknamed 'The Bus' against Wales at the weekend as he helped his team to a historic win. A key player for his country and Racing 92, Biggar admitted feeling a little fear when he knew he and his team-mates knew they were facing Tuisova on the pitch.

Biggar: "An absolute freak of a specimen. I don't tend to take too much notice of names on teamsheets, but when his name was on it, there were a few more worried bodies in the team room. The power, the explosivity, the fear he put into oppositions, I can't recall anyone tackling him one-on-one. He'll always beat the first tackler, whether it's stepping, power, over the top.

"Put it this way, I didn't tackle him very many times! Honestly, he is genetically a freak. He spent quite a bit of time in Toulon and I remember the first couple months he was there, he put nine or 10kgs just from doing weights, so they had to stop him doing weights and get him doing press-ups and body weight stuff so he wouldn't bulk up too much.

"We played them at the 2019 World Cup and him and Semi Radradra absolutely tore it to shreds. They were unplayable. His ability to change the course of a game, his ability to beat people, the sheer power and genetics that he has, he was one of the very few people that was scary to play against."

3. Antoine Dupont

At just 27, the French magician is already regarded as one of, if not the greatest rugby player of all time. That is certainly a view shared by Biggar, who puts the Toulouse scrum-half in a league of his own having come up against him on several occasions.

Biggar: "For me, he is the best rugby player to have ever played the game, and he's still got years to come. For me to say, in 20, 25, 30 years' time, that I played against Antoine Dupont seven or eight times, beat teams that he played in, lost to teams he played in, I don't think you quite realise it now but he can do everything.

"The best way to describe him is he's more intelligent than any nine or 10 in the world, he's as quick as any winger in the world, he's as strong as any front row forward. He can kick a 50:22 off his left and then the next minute do it off his right, he can goal kick.

"When I play him against Toulouse next year I'm going to have to get a shirt swap. He's a once-in-a-generation player."

2. Dan Carter

The former New Zealand fly-half is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time and still tops the list of world rugby's highest-ever international point scorers, nearly a decade on from his last game for the All Blacks. A hero to Biggar as a teenager, the Welshman came up against him early in his career and was left blown away by what he witnessed.

Biggar: "Similar to Dupont, he's a once-in-a-generation player. How easy he made the game look, that was the biggest thing. He looked like he had all the time in the world on the ball. For you to have any chance against him, you have to be absolutely on the money.

"This is a guy who could do everything, he could kill you and take the game away from you in the space of five, 10 minutes. If you're five per cent off your game and he's somewhere near 60 per cent of his game, he's going to absolutely crucify you.

"We were playing the All Blacks in 2010, I was 20 or 21. I'd had a really good season for the Ospreys and we'd won the league, and I remember starting the second Test against Dan Carter. It was surreal.

"At that point in my career, I've said that you don't fear anything or anybody, that was probably the one example where that changed because I was up against one of the greatest. For 55, 60 minutes, that showed me how far off [I was], his level was a joke."

1. Johnny Sexton

Top spot goes to the Ireland fly-half, with Biggar effusive in his praise for his long-time international rival and Lions team-mate. While they were often enemies on the pitch during tournaments like the Six Nations, however, the pair have a "really, really good" relationship with the Welshman full of respect and admiration for what Sexton has achieved.

Biggar: "The reason I've gone for him is the amount of battles I've had with him over the years, the longevity of his career, the success he's had and what you see on the field being completely different to what you get off the field. The relationship I've got with him is actually really, really good.

"Why I've put him at number one is the amount of detail, the amount of preparation he puts in to every game. After touring with him in 2017, I saw it first hand, it was off the charts and it blew my mind. The amount of time he spent on the laptops, perfecting his kicking, his passing - it was next level.

"The whole time we played Ireland, the only thing we generally spoke out was how to get at Sexton. How do we stop him running the game? How do we stop him dictating play? The variety of his game was just brilliant. He was tough, the amount of injuries he picked up.

"My first Six Nations start was against Ireland in 2013 and he gave me his match shirt and didn't ask for mine in return. He just said 'keep yours' which was a really nice touch. He's an all-round brilliant guy but so, so tough on the field. Argumentative, fractious, niggly - I saw so much of myself in him.

"You look at his career and the success he's had with Leinster, Ireland and the Lions and this guy is consistency like you've never seen it. He's a seven-and-a-half or an eight out of 10 every game."