Wales and Lions star Biggar could be set to join Saints next term
DAN Biggar is edging towards agreeing a deal that would see him leave Welsh rugby at the end of the coming season.
The 27-year-old scorer of a mountainous 2,052 points for the Ospreys is under a national dual contract that runs until next May.
There is an option to stay at the Liberty Stadium through to the end of the 2018-19 campaign, but Biggar looks increasingly likely to reject it and instead commit to Northampton Saints.
The Wales fly-half’s value has shot up after a Lions tour that saw him impress in virtually every game he played. Biggar didn’t actually make the Test side but there were some who hailed him as the best-performing No. 10 on the trip to New Zealand. Northampton have been monitoring his position for some time and are said to be willing to back up their interest with an offer that the former Swansea RFC fly-half will prove unable to refuse.
Biggar has been linked with bigmoney moves away before, but he signed a three-year arrangement with the Ospreys in 2013 and committed to a national dual contract in 2015, jointly funded by the Welsh Rugby Union and the region.
Later that year he became the first player to re-sign a dual package.
While some would argue that his leaving the regional scene wouldn’t be ideal for Wales barely a year out from a World Cup, others would contend that after close on a decade of unstinting service for the Ospreys he has more than earned the right to sample something different.
The former PRO12 champions also have other quality fly-half options in Sam Davies, who started two Tests for Wales this summer, and James Hook, who has returned to the region after stints with Perpignan and Gloucester, while Luke Price recently signed his first professional deal with the region.
Sources in the east Midlands say the deal being spoken about is one the WRU and the Ospreys would stand little hope of matching.