Ex-Wales stars criticise Dan Biggar for ‘get the f***ing ball off’ outburst

Dan Biggar has come under fire from some of his former teammates and ex-Wales players after his outburst during the Rugby World Cup opener against Fiji.

The veteran fly-half was outraged with his teammates for not getting the ball off the field quick enough before half-time of the closely fought Rugby World Cup Pool C match on Sunday.

With time up on the clock, Fiji lost possession in Wales’ half, and Warren Gatland’s side looked to run the ball from deep instead of punting it into touch.

Biggar was furious and was overheard on the referee’s microphone screaming, “Get the ball off the park. Get the f***ing ball off the park” at George North.

“I personally don’t like it”

Former flanker Josh Navidi – who retired from professional rugby at the end of last season – said that he was not a fan of his former Wales and British & Lions teammate’s reaction.

“I personally don’t like it,” Navidi told BBC Scrum V’s podcast.

“You know you’ve made a mistake or you’ve knocked a ball on; you don’t need someone on your back screaming at you for no reason.

“I get the clock’s gone red and just put it out, but someone’s obviously passed the ball to him as well, so it’s just one of those situations that I’m not a massive fan of.”

Fellow former Wales fly-half James Hook added: “George North did suck it up, but I think deep down I don’t think he would have liked that.

“Biggar is competitive, 100 per cent. We love that about him, but I think maybe he just needs to settle down.”

Another ex-fly-half, Nicky Robinson, said that Biggar needs to be careful as to how he speaks to his teammates but added that he may have known how North would react.

“Surely, Biggs knowns George North, and he knows how he’d react to that. Now if he thinks that George is going to be negatively affected by that, then Dan needs to be careful about how he speaks to certain players,” Robinson explained.

“At times, you need players on the pitch to do that; it does get players up. I know that can be negative to certain players, but also, that was a poor decision from George.

“He didn’t drop the ball – no one does that if you drop the ball or make a mistake, but that is understanding the game situation from a man who’s got 100 caps for Wales to go ‘we don’t need to pass this ball’.

“It was an accumulation of other errors, which is why Biggs has lost it. They weren’t on it. They were lucky Fiji didn’t go in ahead at half-time.”

Warren Gatland’s reaction

Meanwhile, Gatland defended Biggar’s spray, saying that he “didn’t have a problem with it” and that “it’s about making people accountable.”

The Wales head coach added that Biggar may have been a bit more emotionally charged than usual.

“It would have been Dan’s mother’s birthday today,” he said after the 32-26 victory over Fiji.

“She passed away a few years ago, so it was pretty emotional for him. I hope she was looking down on him; maybe that’s the case.

“He’s had a couple of back spasms for a period of time, so we decided to make that change [Biggar was replaced after 67 minutes].”

Wales face Portugal in their second match of the Rugby World Cup on Saturday, September 16, and head into the game ranked second in Pool C.

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