CONFIRMED: WRU release statement as Dan Biggar confirms Ospreys exit
The WRU and the Ospreys have described as ‘disappointing’ Dan Biggar’s decision to leave the region.
Northampton Saints have this lunchtime confirmed that Dan Biggar has signed a contract to join the East Midlands club in the summer of 2018.
In a joint statement the WRU and the Ospreys revealed he had been offered a significantly better deal then they could afford.
“Biggar is under National Dual Contract with the Ospreys and Welsh Rugby Union for the remainder of the current season, but has declined to take up the option to extend this deal under significantly improved terms.
“Whilst this is disappointing, as the intention is to keep our best players in Wales, there is an appreciation that on occasions market forces will make this impractical.
“The high level of Biggar’s contribution to Wales and the Ospreys during his career to date, and his continued professionalism in this regard, is unquestioned and all parties continue to wish him well for the future.”
The fly half has been one of the northern hemisphere’s stand-out performers in recent years, having made 56 appearances for Wales, 203 for the Ospreys and toured with the British and Irish Lions to New Zealand earlier this summer, during which he played in five of the 10 matches.
The 27-year-old has been Wales’s starting fly half for the majority of the past four years, winning the 2013 Six Nations title and being the man of the match in Wales’s memorable Rugby World Cup win over England in 2015, a game in which he kicked 23 points.
At club level Biggar was the youngest player to pass the 200-appearance mark for the Ospreys, a feat he achieved last season. To date he has scored over 2,000 points for the region, earning a reputation as one of the league’s most accurate marksmen in the process.
Director of rugby Jim Mallinder says that Biggar’s signing is a big statement of intent about the Saints’ ambitions over coming seasons.
“We’re delighted to have secured the signature of such a highly-rated player,” he said. “Dan has shown his excellence year in, year out, for both the Ospreys and Wales, and he performed really well for the Lions this summer.
“The fact that he has put pen to paper a year in advance shows that Dan has plenty of belief in where we are going as a club and our ambitions for the future and we’re looking forward to welcoming him here next summer.”
Biggar says that he is already looking forward to the fresh challenge facing him at Franklin’s Gardens, but that he is also committed to helping Ospreys be successful this season.
“I’m hugely privileged to sign for a club with the history and tradition of Saints,” he says. “It’s extremely exciting to start a new chapter of my career with a club that shares my ambition to win trophies, which is where this club belongs. I have to say a massive thank you to the coaches and board for the confidence put in me and I look forward to working as hard as I ever have in my career to return the faith.
“This is an opportunity for me and my family to experience rugby in a different environment and playing in a town and surrounding area which has a massive passion for rugby was a huge attraction.
“I would like to thank everyone at the Ospreys and the Welsh Rugby Union who has supported and helped me throughout my career and an extra special thank you to the fans who have helped and supported me through highs and lows.
“To play for my home club was a dream come true, let alone to play as many times as I have done. I hope my passion for the shirt and people of this region has shone through in my performances and I would love to leave on a high note with some silverware. I also remain fully committed to Wales and achieving the best I can every time I pull on the red shirt.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Wow, never thought I would read that
1 Go to commentsExcellent match. Great to see Keenan and Ryan back for Leinster. Super result for Ulster. Season is turning around.
1 Go to comments“We need eight or nine new players, who are hard-wearing and durable and experienced Premiership performers”. So why are they scouting a retired fullback who himself admits that his “body is broken”?
1 Go to commentsBrumbies hand, knocked a Crusaders hand. Therefore, knock on in goal. Crusaders, goal line drop out should’ve been awarded. most likely after that 24 each at full time, so extra time would’ve been the right an entertaining outcome. Act Jim
1 Go to commentsSpeell cehck
1 Go to commentsColeman is gaawwwwnnn.
1 Go to commentsnext SA head coach?
3 Go to commentsGreat try by van Poortvliet.
1 Go to commentsThey have been cruelled by injuries but almost nobody (Sevu Reece and Fletcher Newell big exceptions) has played above himself which regularly happened before. Surely Scott Robertson had maintained the recruitment programme and it looks like a reasonable squad. Last in this competition will stall a lot of careers. Penny seems likeable. But it’s not enough even though this was better. We haven’t been good enough and it’s not helped by the “it’s been 15 years since… “etc “after nearly every match. Seems somehow a soft gifting of something once valuable. Kieran Read giving comments last week almost choked describing the easy surrender of possession by the forwards. I’d love to think that the senior players some of whom are back can show enough pride in the jersey to test the Blues next week.
3 Go to commentsWho will Joe select for the back three with so many in form candidates? Just hope he doesn’t get shafted like Dave Rennie and to a lesser extent Deans.
6 Go to commentsAlways reluctant to blame a coach when losses rack up, but Penney must go. The backline is dysfunctional and the coach must carry the can. No cohesion, no idea and in many cases, minimal skill. The trains out of Roma St depart faster than the ball from Crusaders’ set pieces. Wouldn’t be surprised if the forwards went on strike.
3 Go to commentsAdding to earlier comment. Cullen Grace has been playing great at no6. Lio-Willie , who was on fire a few weeks ago, had a bad game. I think Cullen should have been moved to 8 earlier, Dominic Gardiner on earlier. Feel for Quinten Strange , put in a big shift .
6 Go to commentsWe dominated the scrums Ben Curry was all over pitch again .Surely James Harper got to be one of best English tightheads
1 Go to commentsRoos is a better option at 6 than 8 for the boks. Needs to work on his windgat though.
1 Go to commentsThe Sharks’ 2nd team maybe?
1 Go to comments‘radical’
1 Go to commentsCome back to Christchurch Robbie, please!
1 Go to commentsI think there is zero chance Sam Cane will be selected for another Test. There is simply no point except sentimentality. Razor is not sentimental- ask Wyatt Crocket. Razor is a ruthless selector
5 Go to comments> It would be best described as an elegant solution to what was potentially going to be a significant problem for new All Blacks coach Scott Robertson. It is a problem the mad population of New Zealand will have to cope with more and more as All Blacks are able to continue their careers in NZ post RWCs. It will not be a problem for coaches, who are always going to start a campaign with the captain for the next WC in mind. > Cane, despite his warrior spirit, his undoubted commitment to every team he played for and unforgettable heroics against Ireland in last year’s World Cup quarter-final, was never unanimously admired or respected within New Zealand while he was in the role. Neither was McCaw, he was considered far too passive a captain and then out of form until his last world cup where everyone opinions changed, just like they would have if Cane had won the WC. > It was never easy to see where Cane, or even if, he would fit into Robertson’s squad given the new coach will want to be building a new-look team with 2027 in mind. > Cane will win his selections on merit and come the end of the year, he’ll sign off, he hopes, with 100 caps and maybe even, at last, universal public appreciation for what was a special career. No, he won’t. Those returning from Japan have already earned the right to retain their jersey, it’s in their contract. Cane would have been playing against England if he was ready, and found it very hard to keep his place. Perform, and they keep it however. Very easy to see where Cane could have fit, very hard to see how he could have accomplished it choosing this year as his sabbatical instead of 2025, and that’s how it played out (though I assume we now know what when NZR said they were allowing him to move his sabbatical forward and return to NZ next year, they had actually agreed to simply select him for the All Blacks from overseas, without any chance he was going to play in NZ again). With a mammoth season of 15 All Black games they might as well get some value out of his years contract, though even with him being of equal character to Richie, I don’t think they should guarantee him his 100 caps. That’s not what the All Blacks should be about. He absolutely has to play winning football.
5 Go to commentswhat’s happening to Ian Peel?
1 Go to comments