DAN BIGGAR: I knew the end was coming for me. My only regret is that my mum didn't see more of the best moments of my career

When I was 16, I would permission my location successful Llangennith connected the Gower astatine 5.30am for early-morning weights sessions astatine Swansea College.

My precocious mum Liz would beryllium up aboriginal to bash the driving and we’d prime Leigh Halfpenny up connected the way. Those sessions were designed to hole america for nonrecreational rugby.

After my mum would driblet maine and Leigh off, she’d spell to work. I’d bash the league past get a taxi to school. We’d each get location astatine astir 9pm. They were long, tiring days.

I don’t deliberation either Leigh oregon I thought erstwhile we were doing crack-of-dawn powerfulness cleans that we’d some triumph 100 caps for Wales and play for the Lions. But I person large memories of those days present I’ve announced I volition discontinue from each rugby astatine the extremity of this season.

There are a mates of reasons for that. The archetypal is I consciousness fortunate to person had a grooming spouse similar Leigh. There was ne'er a accidental helium was going to miss a league and we drove each different on. We were some highly dedicated.

At that age, I’d instrumentality a two-litre vessel of h2o with maine everyplace to enactment hydrated and often wore a weighted vest to enactment successful bully condition.

The 2nd is that looking back, I present realise I couldn’t person done it without my mum, who passed distant from crab successful June 2021. I wouldn’t person achieved what I person were it not for her sacrifices and immense support.

I knew this infinitesimal was coming. But my lone regret oregon sadness arsenic I hole to accidental goodbye to nonrecreational rugby is that my mum didn’t spot much of the large moments successful my career.

She missed my 100th Wales headdress and maine commencement astatine No 10 for the Lions. She missed the commencement of my 2nd lad Oliver. I consciousness similar it’s specified a shame due to the fact that she helped laic the foundations for what I’ve been capable to achieve.

One happening is for certain. If my mum was inactive present today, she’d person bought 50 copies of this column! I beryllium her everything and inactive miss her dearly.

After retiring from planetary rugby astatine the extremity of the 2023 World Cup connected my ain terms, I consciousness incredibly fortunate to beryllium capable to bash the aforesaid astatine nine level.

It’s hard erstwhile you’re playing to spot the wood from the trees and analyse what you’ve achieved due to the fact that there’s ever a adjacent people appearing connected the horizon.

But I’ll beryllium capable to look backmost connected my vocation successful years to travel and deliberation to myself ‘I bloody did alright.’ I anticipation my mum would person been arrogant of what I’ve achieved. I surely am.

The happening I’m astir arrogant of is giving my woman Alex and 2 boys James and Oliver a prime of beingness I could lone person dreamed of erstwhile I was grooming astatine Swansea College. That's my biggest accomplishment successful the game. 

My household has sacrificed truthful overmuch for maine to beryllium palmy and present it’s clip the footwear was connected the different foot. Am I disappointed and frustrated this twelvemonth hasn’t rather panned retired arsenic I’d person liked with Toulon? Yes. But I’m not going to fto the past 12 months specify my career.

Time waits for nary one. I haven’t played arsenic overmuch arsenic I’d person liked this season. That’s been tough. But it would person been a batch tougher were it not for the enactment of my loving family.

I privation to usage this file to accidental a large convey you to my mum, my dada John, my woman Alex, my sons, sister Rachel and my grandparents who I’ve ever called Mamo and Dado.

The games I person played for Toulon person astir apt told the communicative that I haven’t truly been a portion of their plans. I’ve been successful the squad for Stormers, Castres, Toulouse, La Rochelle and Sale – each distant from home!

They accidental you cognize erstwhile it’s clip to retire. And I cognize my clip is now. At Toulon, Tuesday tends to beryllium our treble grooming day. On Wednesday mornings now, I americium perfectly f*****. I could astir apt spell connected for different 12 oregon 18 months.

I could possibly get different declaration elsewhere successful France oregon perchance successful Japan. But our household is blessed connected the Cote d’Azur. I aftermath up each greeting present and can’t judge it. What I don’t privation to bash is determination Alex and the 2 boys erstwhile again and possibly lone for a year.

The happening I’ll miss astir astir rugby is matchday. I won’t miss grooming Monday to Friday. But that tells maine I’m ready. The champion happening astir being a subordinate is the squad environment, the buzz of a large crippled and moving retired astatine immense stadiums with unthinkable atmospheres.

It's the champion feeling successful the world, particularly erstwhile playing successful large matches for Wales astatine the Principality Stadium. To bash that countless times and skipper my state was a existent privilege.

I’ll find it hard not to beryllium successful the changing room. I volition miss the p***-taking.

But I’m hoping that by staying progressive successful matches done my aboriginal enactment successful the media, I’ll inactive beryllium capable to scratch that itch. I’m fortunate I’m finishing rugby not lone connected my terms, but interaction wood steadfast and with nary resentment towards the game.

Lots of players haven’t been capable to bash that. Not lone that, I’m besides fortunate I’ve got tons of antithetic things to determination connected to.

I’m loving my enactment successful the media, including penning this column. I similar giving my sentiment from an analytical constituent of view. I consciousness I’ve got a cognition that tin assistance to pass people.

My purpose successful the media is to springiness a existent constituent of presumption of what’s going connected successful the game. That’s what drives me. I bash get frustrated with immoderate things that are said due to the fact that for me, they aren’t needfully right. That’s wherever I consciousness I tin marque a difference.

I’d besides similar to notation Sean Holley and Neil Jenkins. Sean gave maine my archetypal accidental astatine the Ospreys astatine a clip erstwhile the nationalist cognition was that doing truthful was a atrocious move.

Sean had the content to spell with a young cocky 17-year-old. If helium hadn’t and had stuck with James Hook, my vocation could person been precise different. He took a existent accidental and believed successful me. I’m grateful to Sean for that.

I worked with Jenks from the property of 15. There’s a crushed I gave him 1 of my shirts from my 100th Wales cap. He’s the champion kicking manager there’s been.

A peculiar enactment excessively for Chris Boyd, who took maine to Northampton and made maine a vastly amended player. I loved my clip astatine Saints nether Boydy, who helped maine to spot the crippled differently. Moving into the media is the easier way to coaching.

In the future, I would emotion to beryllium considered for a coaching presumption that would assistance the adjacent procreation of young players successful Wales with their kicking. But astatine the moment, I besides can’t perpetrate to a full-time coaching occupation due to the fact that the clip and unit that comes with it is not thing I’m prepared to do.

There’s inactive a bully accidental my past play with Toulon could extremity with silverware. We’re 3rd successful the Top14 and into the quarter-finals of the Champions Cup.

But immoderate happens, I tin bent my boots up astatine the extremity of the play and determination connected to the adjacent section blessed with my lot.

If you’d told maine during my grooming days astatine Swansea College I’d triumph 100 caps, 3 Six Nations titles, a Grand Slam, 3 Lions caps and play astatine 3 World Cups, past I’d person told you determination was perfectly nary chance!

With that successful mind, I’ve surpassed adjacent my wildest expectations.

Dan Biggar's vocation successful numbers

Wales caps: 112

Lions Test caps: 3 (2 tours)

Six Nations titles: 3

Six Nations Grand Slams: 1

World Cups played in: 3

Pro12 titles: 2

Challenge Cups: 1

My 5 astir memorable games

Leinster 30 Ospreys 31, 2012 Guinness Pro12 final

It was a superb match, afloat of play and a scrap successful the passageway astatine fractional time! For maine to person Shane Williams’ effort with a fewer minutes to spell to triumph it by a constituent was large play and an unbelievable feeling. Leinster had won the European Cup the week before, truthful arsenic an Ospreys squad we decidedly caused a large upset.

Wales 30 England 3, 2013 Six Nations

This crippled volition inactive beryllium being talked astir 50 years from now. I’ll surely ne'er hide it. To not lone contradict England a Grand Slam but triumph the Six Nations rubric successful specified broad manner made for the cleanable day. It was the champion ambiance I experienced astatine the Principality Stadium.

Wales 23 Ireland 16, 2015 Six Nations

Many radical mightiness not retrieve this crippled that well. But if determination was a lucifer that summed maine up arsenic a player, this was it. It was 80 minutes wherever physicality, crippled management, quality and accuracy were key. Those attributes were what I did champion successful a Wales shirt. I besides nailed a long-range driblet goal!

England 25 Wales 28, 2015 World Cup

Winning distant to an England broadside hosting the World Cup was a immense infinitesimal successful my career. It was the archetypal clip radical recognised maine connected a planetary stage, predominantly for the 25 points I scored but besides for my ‘Biggarena’ kicking routine! I retrieve lasting successful the centre of the transportation earlier kick-off and reasoning to myself determination is obscurity other I’d alternatively be.

Wales 16 South Africa 19, 2019 World Cup

This is 1 of the astir memorable games successful my vocation possibly due to the fact that of the regret I’ll ever person that we fto gaffe a accidental to go satellite champions. To suffer a World Cup semi-final to South Africa by conscionable a punishment was gutting. It feels ridiculous saying this with wherever Wales are astatine now, but I genuinely judge if we’d won this crippled determination was a bully accidental we’d person beaten England successful the last and lifted the Webb Ellis Cup. That shows however bully that Wales squad was.

My 5 toughest opponents

Sean McMahon

His sanction mightiness astonishment immoderate people. When we played Australia successful the 2015 World Cup, the Wallabies had Michael Hooper and David Pocock who were immense. But successful that game, McMahon spent the full 80 minutes conscionable whacking me! He deed so, truthful hard and was conscionable everywhere. I had nightmares astir him for weeks!

Dan Carter

He is the champion 10 to person played the crippled for me. It was ridiculously hard for maine to look him due to the fact that I was astatine the commencement of my vocation and helium was Dan Carter! Mentally, I recovered it hard to deliberation I was deserving of being connected the aforesaid transportation arsenic him.

Johnny Sexton

We had truthful galore duels. Johnny gave you nothing. He made it a conflict each clip you played him. You knew you had to beryllium astatine 90 oregon 95 per cent to adjacent get thing due to the fact that helium ne'er dropped beneath those standards.

Antoine Dupont

I person to enactment him in. There person been times I’ve played against him wherever you conscionable can’t get adjacent him. One of the champion to person ever played the crippled and possibly the best.

Julian Savea

In his premier betwixt 2011 and 2015, helium was portion of a genuinely superb New Zealand team. Physically, helium was ridiculous and an implicit effort machine. He was nicknamed ‘The Bus’ and helium surely threw maine disconnected successful 1 crippled successful Cardiff erstwhile helium sent maine flying!