Biggar unsure as to what his next move might be
WALES captain Dan Biggar admits he is unsure what his future holds beyond the World Cup as he accepts it will be the ‘end of a cycle for us 30-odd-year-olds.’
Biggar will enter the final year of his Northampton contract building up to the 2023 tournament in France and according to the Mail could consider a move abroad at the end of it. A move back to the Ospreys, or one of the other Welsh regions, appears off the table, they say.
The Lions fly-half was yesterday focused on trying to fire Northampton into the English Premiership playoffs with victory over Newcastle.
But after yesterday, Biggar admits he’s not sure of his next move: “I don’t know what the future is going to hold. We’ve got a World Cup coming up which I want to get to. I’ve absolutely loved my time at Northampton. I’m quite relaxed about it. We haven’t had any discussions yet. I’ve made no decision.
“’Because of international commitments I feel like I haven’t been around at Northampton as much as I would have liked. The way the game is at the minute you’re almost less valuable to your club if you’re an international because you’re away for the autumn, the Six Nations and the summer.
“It is an aim of mine to get to the next World Cup and see where we go from there. From a Wales point of view they are probably looking at the World Cup as the end of a cycle for us 30-odd-year-olds. They’ll probably look to freshen things up after that.
“I think the World Cup is a good target and then we’ll reassess.”
Biggar is one of a plethora of ThirtySomethings Wayne Pivac automatically selects when fit, with Alun Wyn Jones, Taulupe Faletau, Justin Tipuric and George North among many others also in that category.
Although Tipuric is injured, it is that old guard Pivac will rely upon as Wales look to bounce back from what Biggar dubs an embarrassing Six Nations loss to Italy. Next up are three Tests away to world champions South Africa and Biggar insisted: “’This team always has a way of bouncing back and responding to tough defeats and criticism.
“I’ve no doubt there will be a reaction and you’ll see a much better performance than what we produced in the finale to the Six Nations.
“Going into this summer there is no doubt we’ll start very much as underdogs. I’m sure everyone outside our camp will be looking at how much South Africa are going to win by, not whether they’re going to win. That suits us down to the ground. It’s a great place for us to be.”
Biggar also issued a plea for Welsh rugby to come together following the in-fighting which followed that Italian humiliation in Cardiff, insisting as far as he is concerned that Pivac remains “100 per cent the right man” to take the national team forward.
“Everyone has got to try to come together for the greater good rather than look after themselves,” said Biggar of the chaos which subsequently unfolded, which included suggestions a Welsh region could be axed. “There is a lot of fighting in house and it’s incredible really the success the Welsh team has had over the last 10 years considering there is always something going on.
“We’ve got a group of players in Wales who can mentally dig in and get on with things. That’s how we’re going to have to be again.”