More players will leave. They must raise salary cap
After joining Toulon, Dan Biggar predicts an exodus from English clubs to France
STANDING on his terrace atop the Carqueiranne hillside, Dan Biggar is looking out towards the sailing boats as they catch the sunset cruise down on the ocean. It is the perfect spot to watch the world go by, with views across the Cote d’Azur. St Tropez is 30 miles to the east and the Stade Mayol is an eight-mile drive to the west.
‘The boys back home will give me stick when they see these photos,’ he says, posing in his new surroundings. ‘But the same boys will be asking to come over for a free holiday!’
Every now and then, small planes buzz overhead from the local airport where Biggar landed to sign his contract. The red carpet was rolled out to finalise his move from Northampton.
‘They flew us in on a private jet,’ he says. ‘Me and my wife, Alex, had a glass of champagne on the flight home when it was signed. Champagne and Pringles! It sounds pretentious but it was a cool experience. I’m not going to apologise. I’ve worked my balls off my whole career and deserve something nice.’
Leaning over the balcony, sipping on tea, he breaks into a laugh.
‘So I flew out and signed up to this lifestyle. South of France. And then the next time I came over, I was on the 6am EasyJet flight from Cardiff to Marseille, via Amsterdam, checking into the Holiday Inn in the pouring rain!’
The rainfall has made way for sparkling winter sun. A French vocabulary book is on the table, as he becomes familiar with the language and embarks on a fresh challenge in Toulon.
‘I’ve been watching Lupin on Netflix in French, with English subtitles,’ he says. ‘My French teacher told me that’s a good way to learn so I’m a few episodes into the first series. Otherwise I just stick on Tipping Point!
It’s so far out of my comfort zone in terms of the language and trying to put my stamp on a team.
IHAVE got two and a half years here. That’ll take me until I’m 35 and then I’ll see what’s what. This last couple of months have taught me that anything can happen; the way the Premiership and the Welsh regions are. It’s been a whirlwind. Things changed quickly and we’re fully invested to make it a success on and off the pitch.’
Biggar’s young family will join him in France in April, in time for his son James to enrol at the international school for the summer term. In the meantime, the 32-yearold’s new neighbours have made him feel at home, pointing him in the direction of the international supermarket where he can stock up on Heinz tomato ketchup. There are a few familiar faces close by.
‘Freddie Michalak lives 10 minutes away and his wife’s from Australia, so she obviously speaks perfect English,’ he says. ‘I’ve always been a fan of Freddie because he signed my Wales shirt when I was 12 years old! I have a photo with Freddie that’s boxed away somewhere in the garage back in Wales!’
Bobby Stridgeon, the Wales strength and conditioning coach, also lives a couple of blocks away and calls in for dinner during the interview. He listens in as his old friend discusses the growing exodus of players to France, including Jack Willis, Sam Simmonds and Luke Cowan-Dickie.
‘Let’s call it as it is,’ says Biggar. ‘The salary cap in France is much higher. They’ve got big crowds here every week. They had 33,000 on a Sunday night in Bordeaux. No one turns up to those games in the UK, do they? I believe you’ll see more and more players come over.
‘Northampton weren’t able to extend my contract and I’m totally fine with that. They are a brilliantly-run club but you’ve got young guys like George Furbank, Lewis Ludlam and Alex Coles who started out on academy contracts but now their salary demands have gone up, so what are the club supposed to do?
‘Exeter developed a lot of academy guys into world-class players — guys like Sam and Luke — and the reality is that you can’t fit everybody into the cap. My personal opinion is that if the salary cap is £5million in England and a club can afford to spend £7m, then you’re hamstringing them. The salary cap, for me, is too low and the proof is in the pudding because we’re seeing players leaving.’ But Biggar has not turned his back on his international ambitions. Warren Gatland will take back the Wales coaching reins during the Six Nations and the No 10 is hoping to be part of his plans.
So, was he surprised to see Wayne Pivac sacked months out from the World Cup? ‘It’s difficult, isn’t it? I had this conversation with Bobby.
‘I know results haven’t been great but we actually had some really good highs with Wayne. We beat South Africa in South Africa and I get p***ed off when people say we were playing a second team, because it’s something we’ve never done before. People can stick that wherever they want.
‘The autumn was obviously disappointing. We’ve been spoilt in Wales for so many years, when you look at the size and populations of countries like France and South Africa. We probably overachieved between 2012 and 2022 and got used to winning big games. That set the expectations when Wayne came in.
‘Under Wayne we just had too many ups and downs. Under Gats we would have the odd low point but we were pretty consistent. Did it feel like change was needed? I don’t know, is the honest answer. I phoned up Wayne and said “Thanks for everything”. It wasn’t the easiest conversation I’ve ever had, but he made me captain and it only felt right to speak to him man to man.’
Biggar was Gatland’s No 10 for last year’s Lions tour of South Africa and he will now be competing for one final international hoorah at next year’s World Cup.
‘I’m glad I haven’t done any controversial interviews and slagged him off!’ he jokes. ‘I don’t think anyone thought he’d be coming back but it makes for a great story. A lot of us know what he likes and how he works. We probably need a bit of belief in the group again.’
For Biggar, the new year will bring new opportunities. His friend has installed a box that allows him to watch British TV, meaning he will watch from afar as his old club Northampton take on Harlequins today, with his competitive fire burning as brightly as ever.
‘I’ve got to prove myself all over again here. Even if I wanted a retirement gig, which this 100 per cent isn’t, I would never just cruise through things. You just have to come here on matchday and look at the standards this club has set in the past to realise this isn’t the place to do that.’
As the evening chill begins to bite, Bobby phones a restaurant in the harbour to check availability. The sky darkens and the boats turn back towards land but one thing is certain: Biggar is not about to disappear into the sunset.