Rugby World Cup 2023: Wales fly-half Dan Biggar aiming to retire on a high

Dan Biggar is Wales' fourth highest scorer with 621 points in Test rugby

Dan Biggar is not ready to hang up his Wales jersey on Saturday but knows it could prove his last international.

The fly-half will retire from Test rugby after the World Cup.

He hopes to beat Argentina and spend his 34th birthday on Monday heading to Paris for a semi-final with his Wales team-mates, rather than the short trip along the coast to his French home.

"I don't want my last day as a Wales player to be losing a World Cup quarter-final," Biggar said.

"For those of us finishing after the World Cup there will be a bit of extra pressure but it's also a huge motivation.

"We've been doing everything we can as a team and individuals to make sure we go out on a high rather than a disappointing end.

"These are the special weeks you play rugby for. It's all about the prize at the end of the week and we're not ready to go home yet. I really want another two weeks with this group."

For Biggar, home is 29 miles along the Mediterranean coast in Toulon where, by coincidence, Wales have been based this week.

The disadvantage of that proximity is having a "house full" of 13 guests, as fans pour into the south of France for Wales' biggest game in four years.

However, Wales' fourth-highest Test points scorer and cap holder feared he would already have returned when his World Cup was left in the balance by a pectoral injury against Australia.

"At first I thought it was going to be very difficult to get back but I've managed to heal up OK and I'm fine," he said.

"I've been with the physios every day for the last two and a half weeks to get myself back for this. It was one I really didn't want to miss.

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"I'm just lucky and grateful to be here. It would have been such a shame to have ended it that way.

"However, this is not about myself or anybody else leaving the team tomorrow [Saturday], it's about making sure we stay on, because the belief and the confidence in the group is really high."

The return of 'Bullseye', as he has been labelled by his team-mates, is a timely boost for Wales given the continued absence of fellow fly-half Gareth Anscombe, the only member of the 33-strong squad not to take part in training on Friday at Toulon's Stade Felix Mayol.

"This group is different to previous campaigns," said Biggar, a veteran of three World Cups.

"Previously, say in 2019, we had practically the same team for two years before the World Cup.

"This group has a real mix of ages but it has just grown in confidence and belief with more time together and is really coming into its own."

'Manage expectations'

Wales could overtake Scotland and climb to fifth in the world rankings this weekend and Argentina are happy to bestow them the title of favourites.

It is a tag Wales not have always worn with comfort.

"We have to make sure we manage expectations. A lot of people in Wales think we've just got to turn up tomorrow to get the job done," said Biggar.

"That is the absolute opposite of what our mindset is. We know how difficult this game is going to be.

"Argentina have more to come than what they showed in the pool stages."