CONFIDENT DAN AIMS FOR BIGGAR AND BETTER.

Byline: Gareth Griffiths 

IF Dan Biggar's outward confidence is anything to go by, then his recovery from the interception mistake that almost sawWales humiliated bySamoa on Friday night will be rapid.

Despite his tender years, the 20-year-old Ospreys fly-half is one of the most talkative and ebullient members of the Wales squad already.

So it wasperhaps no surprise to hear him put some perspective on a secondhalf error that allowed centre Seilala Mapusua to gallop 70 metres to score a try that set up a frantic finish.

WalescoachWarenGatland later dubbed it a "14-point try" because it had been the home side who had looked like scoring and admitted he considered taking Biggar off afterwards for fear the mistake was affecting his game.

Biggar - one of the first players out of the dressing room to greet the media - put his hands up to it all, but predicted he will be a better player for the experience at the same time. "I thought I was quite controlled in the way I played but there was that interception and a couple of things were a bit creaky after that in a five-minute period," said Biggar.

"I should have got over it a little bit quicker and with a coupleofyearsmoreexperience I probably will.

"The interception was a key moment which let them back in the game.

"Had he missed that or if it had gone into the hands of a Welshman rather than a Samoan, it would have been seven points to us.

"But those are the margins of international rugby and I found out the harsh reality against Samoa.

Hopefully, though,Iwill be a better player for that experience."

Biggar has already publicly targeted dislodging Stephen Jones from the Wales No 10 berth.

And he believes that he did that cause no real harm at all against Samoa.

"I generally thought I played pretty well and individually, it went verywell in the opening 20 minutes," he added.

"I would like to think I have put a bit of pressure on Stephen (Jones) and I would love to think I have giventhe coaches a bit of a problem.

"But I am also realistic in knowing Stephen is going to be the first-choice number 10 for this campaign.

"My long-term aim is to replace him inasimilar fashion to what has happened with James Hook at the Ospreys this year.

"It is very difficult to say whether that is going to be in a year or 18 months, although I amlooking to be involved at the World Cup."

Wales were criticised for a scratchy display against a Samoanoutfit thathadnomorethan a handful of preparation days.

But Biggar tried to paint a brighter picture.

He said: "Had a couple of passes or the bounce of the ball goneourwayacoupleoftimesit could have been 50 points.

"But it didn't and we have to look at why that was.

"We didn't look after the ball or respect it enough and there were too many cheap off-loads.

"It gave them time to regroup and clear their lines and put us under pressure.

"We are disappointed. We started very well in the opening 20 minutes and failed to maintain that.

"If we could have done that it could have been a pretty polished performance. "The players were all generally disappointed. We felt we were a lot better side than that.

"Wehadalot of possession and territ-ory and we did not make as good a use of it as we could have.

"There were a lot of line breaks but we seemed to cough the ball up and hopefully we can put that right against Argentina.

"It is a win at the end of the dayand it givesus something to work on.

"It would have been a lot harder coming in on Monday having lost against Samoa.

"We showed quite a lot of spirit at the end and we need to take something from that."

CAPTION(S):

* Dan Biggar kicks in the victory over Samoa