Captain Dan Biggar is looking forward to locking horns with a Shaun Edwards-inspired France once again tonight – and he’s quietly confident that Wales will get the upper hand this time.

Wales are aiming to wreck French dreams of a first Six Nations Grand Slam since 2010, just as France ended Welsh hopes of another clean sweep in Paris last year.

Biggar has bittersweet memories of that 32-30 defeat at the Stade de France last March, having scored a try and notched 20 points in all.

He says Wales must play with the same sense of freedom tonight (kick-off 8pm) but he’s desperate for a different outcome.

“There’s absolutely no doubt that the French game was the best we played as a team [in the 2021 Six Nations], and we ended up on the losing side,” said Biggar.

“We took the game to them and made it clear that we weren’t just going to absorb what France were going to throw at us.

“It’s very difficult, with the world-class players that France have got, to stop them scoring 20-plus points because of the talent and the power that they’ve got in their team.

“We knew that we had to go and score 20-plus points to be in with a shout. That was our mindset then and it’s still the same now.

“We know that we can’t give them any easy ins to the game. You look at their first three games and they’re not playing a huge amount of rugby in their half; they’re making teams come from deep.”

Biggar believes Edwards, who helped Wales to three Grand Slams as part of Warren Gatland’s coaching team, has added an extra dimension to the French team since taking over as defence coach of Les Bleus in 2020.

“Shaun has obviously got them very well-drilled, in terms of tackle-work and breakdown,” said the Northampton Saints fly-half.

“We can’t overplay our hand in our own half, but we need to come alive in the French half and take any opportunity we can for points.

“Shaun’s made a huge difference going in there. He’s instilled some real discipline and work ethic in them.

“They’ve always been talented, but they’ve got that real edge to them now and they look the real deal.

“For us it’s going to have to be a huge performance to pick up a result.

“But we’re quietly confident,” he added. “We’re happy for them to take the headlines and we’re hoping we can go quietly under the radar and do our business.”

Biggar revealed that he has resisted the temptation to contact Edwards before the match.

“He sent me a text after the Scotland game [Biggar’s 100th international],” he said.

“It was nice of him to send a message. I haven’t been in touch with him since then and, knowing Shaun, I’m sure he’ll be pretty much business as usual until the final whistle and we’ll have a catch-up after the game.”