Dan Biggar has insisted he and the rest of the Wales team can cope with the flak for finishing runners-up in the Six Nations.

The Wales No.10 believes the criticism that came the team’s way during the tournament – for both style and substance – will simply serve to strengthen their resolve ahead of their summer trip to face the All Blacks.

After Wales had ended the championship by posting a record score against Italy, coach Warren Gatland gave an impassioned plea for more tolerance to be shown towards his players.

Building players up, insisted Gatland, had far more benefits than “chopping them down at the knees.”

Biggar, though, says the blows only make him grow stronger and added: “It doesn’t bother me one bit.

“That is the world we live in and especially in Wales where we live in a goldfish bowl and it’s magnified a lot more.

“For me, I always prefer criticism because I don’t like nice things being said about me because naturally you can fall back into a comfort zone and think you are the best player in the world.

“That’s far from it. You have to take things with a pinch of salt. The more constructive criticism you receive from team-mates or coaches, people within the camp, is more relevant.

“If we don’t play well we will expect some flak and that’s how it should be in any form of life. I quite enjoy the criticism because it makes us realise we have to go up another gear.”

Moving up a gear is something Wales will certainly need to do when they go to New Zealand in June for a three-match Test series against the world champions.

The All Blacks may be in transition after the departures of Dan Carter, Richie McCaw and Ma’a Nonu, but they are hardly likely to be in confusion – a fact Biggar says Wales players discussed as soon as the Six Nations was over.

“We spoke in the changing rooms about it after the game. It’s not like we’re going down there to play a Mickey Mouse team without the likes of (Richie) McCaw and (Dan) Carter. They are world champions and they will have a lot of the players who played in the World Cup final.

“It’s the toughest test you can imagine, three Tests back to back in New Zealand, but we see it as an opportunity.

“It will be the start of their season, whereas we’ll be going there having played a warm-up game. So it’s a great opportunity to pick up a result out there and that’s our aim.

“It would be one of the greatest achievements this team has ever produced.”

Biggar returns to Ospreys duty this week and a derby Guinness Pro 12 date with the Scarlets on Saturday.

But he will go back reflecting on a tournament he believes will be remembered as a lost opportunity.

“Forty minutes of poor rugby in the first half against England has really hurt us, and that’s something we have to address.

“We have to be pleased with the way we responded against Italy, but it doesn’t make up for the disappointment of last week.

“We’re a country who like to look at the negative side of things, but let’s look at the positives, try to get some support for the team ahead of a pretty tough tour.

“As a group, this championship will help us. Second place isn’t where we want to be, but we came up against a good English side, albeit we weren’t at the races for the first 40 minutes against them.

“We have three cracks of the whip against New Zealand and if we can get a win out there it will be as big a win as anyone could imagine.

“If we do, it will be a real positive season on the back of a decent World Cup and an okay Six Nations.”