Dan Biggar casts doubt over Warren Gatland’s future as Fiji fixture is ‘one of the biggest in a long time’
Wales head coach Warren Gatland and an insert of Dan Biggar.
Dan Biggar has cast doubt on whether Warren Gatland could survive as head coach if Wales fail to end their losing run this month.
The Dragons have not won since reaching the World Cup quarter-finals more than a year ago and will equal the nation’s worst Test-losing sequence of 10 if they fail to beat Fiji on Sunday.
Questions will be asked of Warren Gatland
Former captain Biggar won trophies galore under Gatland during his 15 years in the team and says: “Warren’s CV is unmatched, what he’s achieved, what he’s done in the game.
“But he’ll also know, from being around the game as long as he has, the head coach gets a lot of the credit when things go well – and has to shoulder a fair bit of the burden when they don’t.
“I don’t know what the timeframe is but there’s no doubt those questions will be asked if Wales don’t get over the line in the autumn. Warren has been around the game long enough to know that.”
Assistant coach Jonathan Humphreys admits Wales will take an “ugly” win in Cardiff on Sunday, knowing that Australia and world champions South Africa follow Fiji into town.
Toulon star Biggar, who retired from national duty after the World Cup with 112 caps, agrees the Fiji fixture is “one of the biggest in a long time for Wales”.
He expresses confidence that Wales will return to winning ways against opponents thrashed 57-17 by eight-try Scotland last Saturday.
But he says it may well take the whole nation to get them that victory as “just as winning becomes a habit, so does losing”.
Biggar adds: “I know from personal experience that you get into winning positions when you’re on a losing run and you can’t seem to get yourself over the line.
“At this point in time it does not matter about style, Wales’ autumn is all about winning and breaking that losing run.”
Can’t get away from losing
Gareth Anscombe has the backing of his former teammate to wear the No.10 jersey as “his game management experience is what Wales needs at this moment”.
Biggar recalled a time during his Wales career when the team did not win for 10 months and the effect that had on morale and the collective ability to play without fear.
“With every defeat you feel a bit tighter,” he says. “You can’t really get away from it. You can’t go to the supermarket, you can’t go out to dinner – well, you can but know you’re going to get asked a lot of questions by a lot of people.
“You feel more on edge when you go into a press conference or step onto the training pitch, because you know you need to be better than you have been. In games that can make you more safety-first in your approach.
“I can only say what I felt in the tough runs I experienced and, remember, we had a core group of experienced pros, which is what Wales are missing at the moment.
“It felt like you wanted to not lose the game as opposed to really going out to win it and, because the public expects you to win, the pressure builds and builds.”
Call to get behind the team
Which is where, he says, every person turning up at the Principality Stadium on Sunday afternoon has a vital role to play.
“We’ve got to get behind the team,” he says. “It needs the whole nation to get Wales out of this hole. What we want is people supporting the team, not with the knives out already.
“Give the boys the freedom and the opportunity to go out and express themselves without fear that if it doesn’t come off the crowd is going to be tense or you’re going to get slated in the papers.
“It’s a collective thing. I can’t stress how much of a difference that will make to the players.”
Biggar thinks back to November 2014 and a match against South Africa in the same Cardiff arena. Wales had lost four of their previous five and confidence was low.
“It was a shocker of a game,” he recalls. “We were 12-6 up but got tight towards the end as the finish line came into view. We nearly threw it away two or three times but the fans stayed with us.
“Getting over the line that day, no matter how we got there, gave us belief. We went on to win four of our five matches in the Six Nations, beat England at Twickenham in the World Cup and get within five minutes of the semi-finals.”
