‘I have had flak my whole career – I enjoy it as it gives me motivation’
Dan Biggar has been spurred on by criticism from a Wales legend, he tells Alex Bywater
Dan Biggar has always relished the challenge of proving the critics wrong. The 29-year-old has had his fair share of flak over more than a decade in a Wales shirt, so much so in fact that it is now like water off a duck’s back. Biggar is not for turning.
As he prepares for his second World Cup, Biggar is Warren Gatland’s first-choice fly-half. Gareth Anscombe had been pencilled in for that role, but a serious knee injury has ruled him out of playing in Japan.
After Anscombe fell lame in Wales’s first World Cup warm-up with England, the country’s former
wing, Seventies legend JJ Williams, slammed Biggar. In a Telegraph exclusive, Williams hit out at Biggar’s limited attacking game and said Wales would not win the World Cup with him in the side. “If we start with Biggar we will go back to where Wales were 12 months ago,” Williams said. “You know what you’re going to get. He will take you so far, but you’re not going to win the World Cup.” about the team after one difficult afternoon. That’s gone. I’m competitive. I like the criticism.”
Biggar made his Wales debut in 2008, has 73 caps, and toured with the British and Irish Lions in 2017. He is the ultimate Test animal, boasts a solid kicking and defensive game and thrives on the big stage. Biggar was immense as injury-hit Wales beat England to reach the 2015 World Cup quarterfinals, yet still a number of Wales supporters would prefer a more attacking general in charge.
Asked if he can defy Williams and guide Gatland’s men to a first World Cup, Biggar says: “I hope so. We have a tough pool but, if we reach the quarter-finals, the other seven will not want to play us.
“What Warren has done is instill a belief that when we go into games we have the mindset we are going to win. In the past it was more hope than expectation.”
Biggar admits the flak he took when he was younger hit him hard, but his experience means he will be one of Wales’s most important players in Japan. Barring injury he will start the big games at No 10.
“When you get a bit of a bumpy road the biggest thing is experience. You can’t coach that. You have to be thrown in at the deep end and have the character to shrug it off. Early on, it was tough because it affected me and my family and friends. My career has always been like that and you’re never going to please everyone, but the experience I’ve had playing in this shirt for nearly 10 years has served me very well.”
Biggar says his move to Northampton and away from the Ospreys and Welsh rugby’s “goldfish bowl” has helped make him a better player than in 2015.
“It’s nice to be outside the bubble there instead of in Wales, where rugby is all-year round. I don’t put any pressure on myself since I’ve had a boy. If I have a bad game and get negative comments, I just go home to my little boy and it doesn’t really matter.”