SG Reviews: ‘The Biggar Picture’ by Dan Biggar and Ross Harries
In his brand new autobiography, ‘The Biggar Picture’, Dan Biggar takes his reader through the trials and tribulations of what it was like to play in the iconic Welsh 10 jersey over 100 times in the modern game.
Biggar has been one of the best fly-halves in the northern hemisphere for the past decade; however, he never truly got the admiration he deserved. 112 caps, 4th on the all-time list for Wales and 633 international points is something that can only be admired.
Often overshadowed by Owen Farrell, Johnny Sexton and Beauden Barrett, the autobiography reveals an insight into the persona of a player many have misunderstood.
Powerful, self-critical and wholly analytical, The Biggar Picture is both a candid and enthralling journey through the career of a man who has helped define a generation of Welsh rugby and one that any self-respecting rugby union fan should read.
“In Wales, it’s the Jersey that matters most.”
It’s a theme Biggar lays out to the reader on the opening page and is one of the distinguishing sentiments that carries throughout. As many rugby union fans will be aware, the Welsh number 10 jersey is one that carries the weight of a nation on the shoulders of a single piece of cloth.
Biggar explains how the shirt has been worn by legends of the game in the past. Legends who played the game in a way that “hypnotised the masses”, according to him; however, as he admits, “I’d never fit the mould.”
Biggar was a pragmatic flyhalf in the way he approached the game. He wasn’t like his predecessors, and he constantly refers to the struggles he had from the way he was treated by the media and fans.
Perhaps most powerfully, he opens up by saying that whilst the jersey made him fall in love with the sport, it also made him resentful of it.
“I divide my life into before her death and after.”
That quote is from after his mother had just passed away following a 17-year battle with cancer. If there’s one other theme that remains consistent throughout the book, it’s Biggar’s relationship with his mother.
At every instant when he received good or bad news throughout his career, he details how she was the first person he would call to tell or ask for advice.
Biggar’s mother was the true rugby fan in the family whilst he was growing up, and by his own admission, it wasn’t until the 2003 World Cup, when he saw Jonny Wilkinson play, that he became fully immersed in the sport.
Reading through the hundreds of pages, you lose count of how many times Biggar refers to her wisdom and counsel. Given that fact, it strikes incredibly deeply when he discusses her passing.
Perhaps even more so because of the timing. Biggar had just been selected for the Lions tour; after missing out on the tour altogether in 2013 and then being part of the “mid-week veg” in 2017 in South Africa, he finally achieved his dream of starting a test for the Lions.
He says that the first thing he thought of when his name was announced was how proud she would have been of him.
“Self-inflicted wounds were the WRU’s speciality.”
Biggar’s career has spanned one of the most interesting periods the Welsh national rugby team has ever seen. From Grand Slams and World Cup semi-finals to the contentious and downright disastrous financial woes, the book provides a fascinating insight into the man who was right at the heart of much of it.
To even the biggest of fans, many may forget that the man who went on to play for his country in the flyhalf jersey more than any other in history often struggled in his early career to gain consistency in selection in the national squad. Between his debut in 2008 to the famous 2013 Six Nations, he’d only achieved 11 caps.
Although a testament to the character of the man, Biggar pressed on and had plenty of highs in his time with the national side. The least of which was the unexpected 2013 Six Nations title, including the famous 30-3 win against England. And then again in the 2015 World Cup pool stages, a game to which Biggar dedicates almost 10 whole pages in the book.
Biggar was part of a ‘golden generation’ of players in Wales, with ten of his teammates from their Junior World Championship side going on to play for Wales and six for the Lions.
However, whilst Biggar’s career was ultimately a successful one, the power of the autobiography comes from the fly-on-the-wall accounts of some of the national sides’ darkest days, such as the proposed player strike in the 2023 Six Nations, which threatened to plunge the union into a financial disaster. There’s also insight into the unfortunate tenure and ultimate sacking of Wayne Pivac and other financial turmoil that rugby union in Wales has endured over the previous decade.
The Biggar Picture is a gripping tale and insight into one of the players that defined a generation of rugby in Wales. Told in a raw and undeniably eye-opening manner, whether he was someone you enjoyed or despised as a player, his story is undeniably inspiring and emotional.
