Dan Biggar Retires: ‘There Comes A Point When You Just Know’
Wales legend and British and Irish Lion Dan Biggar has announced that he will be retiring from rugby after the end of the season.
Biggar will finish his long and illustrious career with Toulon, in France, who he joined in 2022.
Over the course of an 18-year career, Biggar also played for hometown club Ospreys, as well as English side Northampton Saints. On the international stage, Biggar won 112 international caps for Wales and appeared in three Lions tests – all on the 2021 tour of South Africa.
Making his debut for Wales as a 19-year-old in 2008, Biggar ended his international career after bowing out of the 2023 World Cup, finishing with the fourth most international caps in Welsh history.
He scored 633 points for Wales, making him the fourth highest points scorer in history, only behind Neil Jenkins, Stephen Jones, and Leigh Halfpenny.
‘When you know, you know’
“There comes a point where you just know, not because of anything in particular, but someone once said to me ‘when you know, you’ll know’,” Biggar said as he announced his decision on social media.
“Rugby has given me everything. I threw myself into this game at 17 and it’s given me a life that I could never have imagined.
“I’ve lived out my childhood dreams for the best part of two decades and I’m so, so grateful for that.”
“The thing I’m most proud about is being able to give my family opportunities in life, that’s what means the most to me and what I’m most proud of,” Biggar added.
“To my amazing wife Alex and my two beautiful boys I can’t thank you enough for everything you’ve done for me. You were always there to pick me up when things were low and have been by my side through everything when I’ve needed it. I’m very lucky.”
Biggar also remembered his late mother, who he described as his “biggest fan”.
“The one person who isn’t here to say thank you to is my mum, who sadly passed away four years ago,” he said.
“Everything I’ve done over the last 18 years is because of her.
“There’s no real perfect moment to walk away, but this does feel like the right one. I’m choosing to retire, which a lot of sportspeople don’t get to do when they’re healthy and I feel very grateful and excited about what’s coming next.
“Rugby will always be a part of me, but now it’s time to give a little bit of time back to my family in this beautiful part of the world and see what challenges come next.”
Biggar finished by thanking the game of rugby itself, the people, the memories and lessons.
“I can honestly say I gave it everything I had and now it’s time for something new,” he said.
“Thank you, diolch, merci.”
Ospreys Legend
Biggar made his Ospreys debut as an 18-year-old, coming off the bench to steer his side to a semi-final victory over Saracens at the Principality Stadium. It was an early mark of the prodigious talent and temperament that he possessed.
Biggar’s early Ospreys career coincided with great success for the region. In 2010, Ospreys won the Celtic League – precursor to the United Rugby Championship (URC) – with Biggar ending the competition as second highest points scorer.
Biggar would top the scoring charts for the next two seasons, winning the Pro12 Grand Final over Leinster in 2012.
In 2018, he left the region to join Northampton Saints in the English Premiership. To this day, Biggar remains Ospreys’ all-time highest points scorer, and was the youngest player to reach 100 and 200 appearances.
Dan Biggar and Rhys Webb of Ospreys celebrate with the RaboDirect PRO12 trophy.
© Huw Evans Picture Agency
Wales: Earning His Stripes
Despite making his debut as a teenager, it took Biggar a while to become the undisputed first-choice flyhalf under Warren Gatland.
With talented players such as James Hook, Rhys Priestland, and Stephen Jones to choose from, Biggar had to bide his time.
After missing out on the 2011 Rugby World Cup and 2012 Grand Slam-winning Six Nations campaign, Biggar took his chance with both hands in 2013. With Priestland out injured, the flyhalf started every match as Wales won the title.
His relationship with Gatland was always the most intriguing part of Biggar’s career, with his coach leaving him out of that summer’s Lions tour of Australia, despite the other 14 starting players from that England victory making the plane.
His next opportunity on the biggest stage came at the 2015 World Cup. When regular goal kicker Leigh Halfpenny was ruled out the tournament through injury, Biggar stepped up to the mark.
Biggar kicked 23 points as Wales recorded one of their most memorable wins in recent memory, beating England 28-25 to put their biggest rivals out of their own World Cup. His kicking routine, which involved a number of twitches and picks at his clothing, was dubbed the ‘Biggarena’ after the popular song, Macarena.
Dan Biggar of Wales kicks the match winning kick.
After that tournament, Biggar established himself as Wales’s starting flyhalf, winning his 50th cap in 2016. His form finally earnt him a place on the 2017 British and Irish Lions tour of New Zealand, where he appeared five times in tour matches.
More trophies were to follow in the red of Wales, a Grand Slam in 2019 and third Six Nations title in 2021, as well as a World Cup semi-final in Japan.
Following Wales’s impressive 2021 campaign, Biggar was finally given the reigns in a Lions jersey, starting the first two tests of the series against South Africa, as well as appearing off the bench in the deciding match. Biggar had finally won the full backing of Gatland and played his best rugby in those latter years of his career.
Biggar scored a try – his eighth – in his final Wales match as they went out of the 2023 World Cup to Argentina at the quarter-final stage.
The former Ospreys man was an excellent goal kicker – he has the best kicking percentage in World Cup and Six Nations history – and was imperious under the high ball in his prime. Known for his tenacity and supreme work rate, he will be fondly remembered by Welsh fans for many years to come.
Sportin Wales’s coverage of Wales’s World Cup qualifying campaign is proudly sponsored by S4C. You can watch all of Wales’s matches this year for free on S4C and S4C Clic.
If you want to read more pieces from Sportin Wales, why not read to our monthly magazine here or subscribe to the magazine and newsletter at https://sportin.wales/subscribe/.
Our podcast is back for the new season and our co-founder Alex Cuthbert is in charge! You can find all the episodes here or the video versions on our YouTube channel.
You can also keep track of our pieces and videos on our socials at @Sportin_Wales on X or Sportin Wales on Instagram and Facebook.
