Biggar happy to hit 60-cap mark as he prepares for landmark Test
AS he heads into “the Dan Biggar game”, the man himself says it’s time for Wales to front up and get their boots dirty as they take on the most physical team in world rugby.
It will be a landmark match for the Ospreys outside-half when he lines up against the Springboks at the Principality Stadium on Saturday.
Up until this season, winning your 60th cap wouldn’t be that significant in the general scheme of things.
But, with the change in the Wales selection policy, it’s suddenly taken on a whole new relevance.
Having reached the required 60 caps, Biggar will be able to continue playing international rugby next season when he joins up with Northampton.
With 56 appearances under his belt going into the autumn, the 28-year-old was always likely to be involved in all four Tests to get him up to the designated tally.
And it will be mission accomplished on that front when he steps out against the Springboks.
“They’ll be calling it the Dan Biggar game I think, the memorial game!” he said.
“When I decided to leave, the rule was you could pick wildcards, so that was still an option for me.
“Then the 60-cap rule came in and I was four short. I always thought it would be nice to get them in this campaign.
“If I had to wait until the Six Nations so be it, but it’s nice to get it sooner and we can draw a line under that and move on.
“I’ve said to a few of the boys, just because you get to 60 caps, it doesn’t mean you are just going to get picked for Wales for ever and ever when you leave.
“But it does mean that door is still open for me when I leave next year.
“It’s nice I suppose to get that out of the way as quickly as possible, so that injury or form or whatever reason is out of the window and I can just concentrate on playing and finishing the season in good spirits.”
While it’s job done for Biggar on the caps front, there is still plenty of work for Wales to do as they look to end their campaign on a high after defeats to Australia and New Zealand, plus a ground-out win over Georgia.
“We will find out how decent an autumn we have had at about 4pm on Saturday,” he said.
“If the scoreboard is in South Africa’s favour, we’ll all have to admit it’s been a poor autumn.
“But if we get a win, backed up with the performances against Australia and New Zealand, it will be a pretty decent autumn building nicely into the Six Nations.
“It’s massively important we get a win. That’s the only thing that matters for us as a squad, to make sure we are winners on that field rather than being positive about playing well, but not quite getting over the line.”
This will be Biggar’s sixth Test outing against the Springboks and he knows exactly what to expect.
“When you go into a game against Australia, you know they are going to come up with a lot of intricacies in terms of back play and have a lot of variation,” he said.
“It’s the same with the All Blacks, England, Ireland, teams like that.
“South Africa are trying to play a fair bit of rugby as well when they get good field position.
“But you know they are going to be pragmatic and the ball is going to be in the air quite a bit.
“You know you don’t want to give them too many driving lineouts because it’s a massive strength of theirs.
“In terms of physicality, the size of the men, generally physically they are going to be your toughest opponents.
“So, it’s about us barring up on the weekend and sometimes not doing the pretty things.
“Sometimes you’ve got to knuckle down a little bit and get your boots dirty and really front up.
“That’s the main message and Shaun (Edwards) has been drilling that into us all week in terms of fronting up and delivering a physical performance and stopping these guys.
“If they get a roll on and you are on the back foot it’s a tough day.
“Our record against the Springboks in the last few years has been pretty good in terms of results. It’s about taking confidence from that.
“We are aware of the threats they pose in terms of physicality and the sheer size and strength of the side.
“But we tend to get better as campaigns go on, so it’s making sure we peak on Saturday and pick up a win.
“It’s great for us. We get another chance to sample 70,000 at the Principality Stadium, playing against one of the best teams in the world.
“It’s important for us to keep pace with England, Ireland and Scotland and find some confidence and continuity for the Six Nations.”
Reflecting on the autumn campaign to date, he said: “We’ve been disappointed with the results against Australia and New Zealand, but we have shown lots of positive signs in the way we are trying to play.
“If you are going to change your style a bit and evolve how you are playing, it’s going to take time.
“We just need to be a little bit more clinical.
“It’s great we are showing an intent to play rugby, that’s definitely the way we want to go.
“But it’s about mixing it in with what we are good at, which is a team that’s pretty good in the air and does the basics fairly well.
“So, it’s balancing playing open free rugby with being pragmatic at times.”
The fourth autumn international always presents Wales with problems in terms of the availability of English-based players and Biggar could be caught up in that scenario in years to come with his move to Franklin’s Gardens.
“It’s tough for boys who have to go back and not be available for this game,” he said.
“As far as I am aware, I will be released for everything I’ll be