Dan Biggar: Why Elliot Daly’s Lions selection ‘makes a lot of sense’ as Wales legend picks a ‘bigger surprise’ in Andy Farrell’s squad
Elliot Daly in action for England in the 2025 Six Nations and former British and Irish Lions fly-half Dan Biggar.
Former Wales and British & Irish Lions playmaker Dan Biggar insists that Andy Farrell has made a sensible choice by selecting Elliot Daly in the squad.
The 32-year-old was one of the more intriguing inclusions in the 38-man group given that his form has fluctuated over the past few years.
Daly managed to rediscover his mojo ahead of the 2025 Six Nations, however, and featured in four of England’s matches during the competition.
The Saracens star scored the winning try against France and then impressed in the large victories over Italy and Wales.
Third tour for Daly
As a result, he did enough to earn selection for a third Lions tour having also gone to New Zealand and South Africa in 2017 and 2021 respectively, where he featured in five Tests.
“I didn’t expect to see Elliot Daly’s name but I just think nobody’s really talked about it in that sense,” Biggar said on The Rugby Pod.
“When I look back at when his name was announced, I was kind of thinking he ticks a lot of boxes; that’s what he did four years ago, he played every one of the warm-up games.
“His bag was absolutely jam-packed with jerseys because he played in every game!
“He can play 13, 15, wing, is a long-range goal-kicker. He’s a left-footed option so when you look back, it actually makes quite a lot of sense to pick someone like him.”
Biggar generally agreed with Farrell’s selections, although he felt the biggest shock came at lock with Scott Cummings’ inclusion.
The Scotland second-row is an outstanding player but he did not feature for the national team in the Six Nations due to injury.
One of six Lions second-rows
In fact, Cummings has played just once since January, but Farrell obviously rates him highly enough to pick him as one of his second-row options alongside Tadhg Beirne, Joe McCarthy, James Ryan, Ollie Chessum and captain Maro Itoje.
“Scott Cummings in the second-row, I was surprised at his selection,” Biggar added. “He has been good for Scotland but I think somebody like a Dave Ribbans has been really, really good.
“I know he’s not playing international rugby and that may have counted against him, but I didn’t expect to see his (Cummings) name.
“If you’re asking me honestly, that’s probably who I would have said is a bigger surprise.”
