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Fly-half Dan Biggar says Wales have a “fabulous chance” of beating world champions New Zealand
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He says Wales must “play out of our skins” to do so
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Wales hammered Italy 67-14 to finish second in the 2016 Six Nations
Dan Biggar has set his sights on world champions New Zealand after steering Wales to a second-place finish in the Six Nations.
Warren Gatland’s men hammered Italy 67-14 on the final weekend to finish second in the 2016 Six Nations behind Grand Slam winners England.
“You can have your red-tinted glasses on as much as possible, but I think overall England were the best side in the tournament,” said Biggar.
The 26-year-old is now looking forward to facing the All Blacks, who will be without retired Test stars Richie McCaw, Dan Carter, Ma’a Nonu and Conrad Smith.
He told BBC Wales Today: “I think the gap is closing and I think we’ve got a fabulous chance in the summer of picking up a scalp, albeit against the world champions in their own back yard.
“They are a fantastic team – we would have to play out of our skins to pick up a result.
“But if we go down there thinking ‘we’ve got no chance’ we may as well not bother going.”
Wales have not beaten the All Blacks since 1953 and Biggar says it will be interesting to see how New Zealand respond in their first Tests since beating Australia in the 2015 World Cup final at Twickenham.
“They’ve lost a lot of experience and a lot of good players, but as always with New Zealand, they unearth some absolute beauties,” he added.
“It’s the toughest challenge in world rugby and for us to go there, we have to be absolutely on the money for everything we do.”
However, Biggar says he and his team-mates are aware “New Zealand aren’t going to allow us as much time and space” as Italy did.