Wales were scared of England but are now in a ‘great place’ ahead of Japan World Cup, says Dan Biggar
The fly-half watched on with his teammates as the English destroyed Ireland in Dublin on the opening weekend of the Six Nations
Dan Biggar has admitted Wales were scared of England at the start of the Six Nations tournament, but revealed they are now in a 'good place' ahead of the World Cup in Japan.
After an unconvincing display against France on the opening weekend of the tournament, Biggar revealed the Welsh squad headed into a bar in Nice to watch rivals England and Ireland do battle.
Tipped as pre-tournament favourites and the most likely to dethrone New Zealand, Ireland were expected to blow Eddie Jones' men away in Dublin.
However, an aggressive and measured approach from the 2003 World Champions saw them dominate the Boys in Green all over the pitch at the Aviva Stadium as they recorded a 20-32 bonus-point win.
And Biggar told the Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast their early fears were soon allayed once they beat Italy in their following away game.
He said: "We didn’t play very well against France and we all watched the England vs Ireland game in an Irish bar actually in Nice the following day.
"And I think we were all pretty worried about England; about how impressive they looked and how strong they were looking.
"But, then we managed to pick up two from two – winning in Italy, winning two games away from home with a game against England in the Principality to come.
"And I think once we beat England, I think that was the moment where we thought ‘we have got a huge, huge chance’.
"And it was one that the boys didn’t want to let go really."
Wales continued to grow in the tournament and ended up also thrashing Ireland to claim a Grand Slam victory.
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And with the World Cup later in the year in Japan, the Northampton Saints fly-half believes the Dragons are well-placed to go deep into the tournament in the Far East.
“The World Cup is going to be a huge spectacle,” Biggar continued.
“New Zealand will start as favourites, there is no doubt about it.
“But, I think the confidence we have built up now and the belief we have in ourselves and teammates and coaches and everything around us, it puts us in a real good place come October/November time.”