Dan Biggar insists there is plenty of excitement in Wales World Cup squad

By Sports Desk September 04, 2023

Dan Biggar says there is “tons of excitement” in the camp as Wales prepare to launch their World Cup campaign.

Wales have been largely written off on the back of a dismal Six Nations tournament last season and a record that shows just three wins in 13 Tests.

But their World Cup statistics under head coach Warren Gatland are impressive, having reached semi-finals in 2011 and 2019, while they were 2015 quarter-finalists.

Their group is also far from straightforward, with England’s recent Twickenham conquerors Fiji awaiting Wales in Bordeaux on Sunday, while the pool also features Australia and Georgia.

“We know that there is pressure, but also we know that there are probably a lot of people out there writing us off as well and probably thinking there is not a huge amount of chance for us to go deep in the tournament,” Wales fly-half Biggar said.

“And for us, it is great that we can just shut ourselves off from everything outside our bubble and just concentrate on working hard, training hard, preparing as well as we can and putting in as good performances as we can.

“We’ve got a few boys who were rested and recovered from a few little niggles and tweaks, and we have got pretty much a full squad to choose from, not far off.

“So we are in a good place and there is tons of excitement. I think as soon as we arrived here, the levels of excitement just went through the roof.

“We are just really looking forward to this tournament starting. We have trained so hard, we’ve spoken so much about it, we’ve seen so much written about it and spoken about it.

“Things like this are so special, and there is plenty of confidence in the group.”

Biggar’s third World Cup will be his final one after he recently announced that he would be retiring from Test rugby after the tournament.

And he remains an integral part of Gatland’s plans, offering vast experience through a 109-cap international career.

“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 and performing and training and getting on with our business,” he added.

“The reason it (retirement announcement) was done before the tournament was because I didn’t want anything to be a distraction for the team.

“Obviously, next Sunday is a massive game for both sides, but I think everything we do between now – and everything we have done for the last few weeks, really – has been geared to something.

“I am just looking forward to really enjoying my last tournament.

“I’ve tried to just enjoy it as much with the lads as possible, and it does feel strange because it has been such a big part of my life for so long.”

Gatland is due to name his team for the Fiji clash on Friday, with the squad currently preparing at their base in Versailles, where day-time temperatures are more than 30 degrees.

The heat factor will then ramp up in Bordeaux, with 35 degrees forecast for later this week and 28 degrees when Wales and Fiji meet, even though the game kicks off at 2100 local time.

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    Wales head coach Warren Gatland did not have answers about his future following their 45-12 defeat to South Africa, their 12th consecutive loss.

    The Springboks dominated from the off and were cruising 26-0 just before half-time, after Franco Mostert, Eben Etzebeth, Kurt-Lee Arendse and Elrigh Louw crossed.

    Rio Dyer's try before the break ensured Wales did not draw a blank in the first half, but South Africa did not let up as Aphelele Fassi, Gerhard Steenenkamp and Jordan Hendrikse all followed suit.

    James Botham's late effort ensured Wales did not suffer their worst-ever home defeat, but they have now gone an entire calendar year without a win for the first time since 1937.

    Gatland has come under increasing pressure as the losses pile up, and though his future remains up in the air, he was proud of how his inexperienced side held up against the world champions.

    "It's about seeing what the Welsh Rugby Union has to say," he told TNT Sports when asked about his future.

    "You don't make a decision straight after a game, it's always tough coming to a press conference straight after a game before you've had time to catch your breath and look at some of the stats and numbers.

    "Let's just see what happens over the next few days."

    On their recent run of form, he added: "We punched massively above our weight for a number of years, and we've been saying that when the dam bursts it's going to take a little bit of time to put things right.

    "The dam has burst, but it's about making sure that, collectively, with the regions we work together.

    "I think we need to be in better shape in a conditioning point of view. We will work on that with some of the players over the next couple of months, so when they turn up for the Six Nations, they're ready to go from day one."

    South Africa have won each of their last three Tests, building on their wins over Scotland and England earlier in the series.

    Captain Siya Kolisi was pleased with their ruthlessness in the game but also sympathised with Gatland's situation.

    "It's been a really good tour," he told TNT Sports. "It hasn't been perfect, the first two games we weren't happy - happy we won, but there was so much we could have done better.

    "The results are important, but it's how you do things, the standards we set for ourselves. We know we can do a little bit better as a group.

    "We were where Wales are a couple of years ago.

    "The only thing I can say is you just can't stop believing. If you look at their starting backline, one of our guys had more caps than all of them. You have to be realistic about these things."

    Elsewhere, Ireland produced their most convincing win of their series, scoring eight tries as they cruised past Fiji 52-17 in Dublin earlier on Saturday. 

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    Borthwick named his 23-man squad to face Japan on Friday, reinstating Tom Curry and Sam Underhill, nicknamed the "Kamikaze Kids" by Jones in 2019. 

    Curry has been recalled to the team after he was knocked out against Australia, and he replaces Chandler Cunningham-South in the back-row.

    In the other change from the starting XV that lost to South Africa, full-back George Furbank comes in for Freddie Steward.

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