INTERVIEW: Dan Biggar is thriving off 'excitement' at the World Cup
Dan Biggar is thriving off ‘tonnes of excitement’ in Wales squad as veteran fly-half prepares for international bow at Rugby World Cup
- Dan Biggar is preparing for his final international competition with Wales
- The 33-year-old will retire from Wales duties after the Rugby World Cup
- Biggar insisted the decision was made so he could call time on his ‘own terms’
Dan Biggar set his sights on a glorious finale to international rugby after the Wales fly-half charmed France on his arrival at the World Cup.
Biggar – who has 109 caps for his country – revealed in his Mail on Sunday column he will retire from Tests after the tournament which begins this week.
The 33-year-old will carry on playing club rugby with French giants Toulon. At Wales’ World Cup welcome ceremony in Versailles on Monday night, Biggar impressed the city’s dignitaries and World Rugby chairman Bill Beaumont by thanking them in a speech in fluent French.
‘It was just important for me to be able to call time on my own terms and more importantly, that the team can just concentrate on the rugby,’ Biggar said.
‘The reason it (his retirement statement) was done before the tournament was because I didn’t want anything to be a distraction for the team.
Dan Biggar is preparing for his final international bow with Wales at the Rugby World Cup
Biggar (middle) will retire from international duties after the World Cup in France
‘I’m just looking forward to really enjoying my last tournament. It does feel strange, because it (rugby) has been such a big part of my life for so long. But I’m really hoping we can go out and give it a good go and play some positive rugby.’
Wales and Biggar start their World Cup campaign against Fiji in Bordeaux on Sunday, looking to emulate their run to the semi-finals in 2011 and 2019.
Head coach Warren Gatland and his players impressed at their welcome ceremony in Versailles, with the playing squad and backroom team performing Welsh hymn Calon Lan.
Gatland is understood to have key No 8 Taulupe Faletau and hooker and co-captain Dewi Lake fit to face Fiji – who claimed a famous victory over England at Twickenham last month.
Faletau didn’t feature in Wales’ three World Cup warm-up matches due to a calf injury while Lake suffered a knee issue in a defeat by England. ‘We’ve got a few boys who were rested and have recovered from a few little niggles and tweaks. We’ve got pretty much a full squad to choose from, not far off,’ Biggar said.
‘We’re in a good place and there’s tonnes of excitement. I think as soon as we arrived and touched down in Paris, the levels of excitement just went through the roof.’
Warren Gatland has picked a Wales team with a mix of youth and experience
Wales are training on the outskirts of Paris before traveling to Bordeaux on Wednesday
Wales will train at their Versailles base on the outskirts of Paris in the early part of this week before traveling to Bordeaux on Wednesday.‘
We were probably in a very different space four years ago going into a World Cup,’ said Biggar, who starred as Wales reached the last four in Japan in 2019.
‘We almost wish we’d got here a few days earlier just to get into World Cup mode because things like this are so special and there’s plenty of confidence in the group. We know there’s pressure but we also know as well there are probably a lot of people out there writing us off and thinking there’s not a huge chance for us to go deep in the tournament.
‘For us, that’s great. We can just shut ourselves off from everything outside our bubble and just concentrate on working hard and putting in good performances.’
Source: Read Full Article