Dan Biggar will draw on the memory of Wales’ famous World Cup win over England when Northampton play Leicester tomorrow for a place at Twickenham.
Saints are 12/1 outsiders of the Premiership semi-finalists, having qualified fourth and been handed a trip to table-topping Tigers who have gone all season in the league unbeaten at home.
But Wales captain Biggar refuses to be be daunted by the mission, remembering how nobody gave his country any chance against host-nation England at Twickenham in 2015.
“I remember that week so well,” the fly-half said of Wales’ come-from-behind 28-25 victory. “The talk was of how much England were going to win by and that we’d have to beat Australia the following week to stay in the competition.
“Similar to now the build-up was all about how strong the home team was. But games still have to be won.
“Absolutely no doubt Leicester have been the best in the league all season, but the way it is structured you get nothing for finishing top.
“Play-off rugby is all about momentum and we’ve picked up 32 out of 35 points the last seven Premiership weeks. We’re in as good a place as we could be.”
Biggar, 32, is a British and Irish Lion, has 100 Wales caps as well as Grand Slams and Six Nations titles to his name and will retire as one of the greats of the game.
Yet so passionately does he want to win the Premiership for Northampton that he says doing so would be “one of, if not the best achievement in my career”.
He added: “That’s how I feel. It’s a goal of mine since I’ve been here. We’ve been solid without really pushing at it, whereas we’ve got a real chance this year of causing an upset.
“We go there as underdogs, no doubt, but we’re in a mindset of going there to cause an upset.”
For all that, he is acutely aware the tragic death this week of Tom Youngs’ wife Tiff puts tomorrow’s contest firmly into perspective.
“First and foremost, from a personal as well as club point of view, all our thoughts are with Tom and his family,” Biggar said.
“A game of rugby pales into insignificance beside what that family is going through and I imagine there’s going to be a huge amount of emotion at Welford Road.
“My hope is that the game can be played in the right way to honour Tiffany - and that it brings supporters and players together.
“As much as it means so much to us all, it is very much second fiddle to the greater good in terms of Tom and his family.”
