Daily Mirror

BIGGAR: WE SAINT OUT OF RUNNING

- EXCLUSIVE BY ALEX SPINK

DAN BIGGAR will draw on the memory of Wales’ World Cup win over England when Northampto­n play Leicester tomorrow for a place at Twickenham.

Saints are the 12/1 outsiders of the Premiershi­p semifinali­sts, having qualified fourth and been handed a trip to the table-topping Tigers, who have gone all season in the league unbeaten at home.

But Wales captain Biggar (right) refuses to be daunted by the mission, rememberin­g how nobody gave his country a chance against host-nation England at Twickenham in 2015.

“I remember that week so well,” said the Lions fly-half.

“The talk was of how much England were going to win by and that we would have to beat Australia the following week to stay in the competitio­n.

“Similar to now, the build-up was all about how strong the home team were.

“But games still have to be won.

“Absolutely no doubt Leicester have been the best in the league all season, but the way it is structured you get nothing for finishing top.

“Play-off rugby is all about momentum and we’ve picked up 32 out of 35 points the last seven Premiershi­p weeks. We’re in as good a place as we could be.”

Biggar (above) has 100 caps as well as Grand Slams and Six Nations titles to his name and will retire as one of the greats of the game.

Yet so passionate­ly does he want to win the Premiershi­p for Northampto­n that he says doing so would be “one of my, if not the best achievemen­t in my career”.

For all that, he is acutely aware the death this week of Tom Youngs’ wife Tiff puts tomorrow’s contest firmly into perspectiv­e.

“First and foremost, from a personal as well as club point of view, all our thoughts are with Tom and his family,” said Biggar.

“A game of rugby pales into insignific­ance beside what that family is going through and I imagine there’s going to be a huge amount of emotion at Welford Road.

“My hope is that the game can be played in the right way to honour Tiffany and that it brings supporters and players together.

“As much as it means so much to us all, it is very much second fiddle to the greater good in terms of Tom and his family.”

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