Rugby World Cup: Jac Morgan could become Wales’ new Sam Warburton

Youngster’s promotion to captaincy ahead of World Cup echoes Warburton’s rise in 2011 but Ospreys man can shine on both sides of the ball

Supporters always know when they have lost a gem of a player, which is why when Jac Morgan left for the Ospreys, the main reaction among followers of the Scarlets was one of despair.

“Absolute future star and could have been lynchpin of the back row for 10 years,” read one disgruntled comment. Well, two years later and Morgan, just 23-years-old, is co-captaining Wales at the Rugby World Cup.

The collection of talent Wales have produced at openside flanker over the last 20 years has been quite something, with Morgan the latest off the production line. Being an excellent turnover creator is now almost a pre-requisite for the position after the work of Sam Warburton and Justin Tipuric, but Morgan has that in his locker and more. His huge tackle on Tom Pearson during the first warm-up match this summer, taking the England flanker off his feet, inevitably drew comparisons with Gavin Henson’s tackle on Mathew Tait all those years ago.

BIG RUGBY HIT in yesterday Wales Vs England from Jac Morgan.Follow me for more Rugby Content.here is a breakdown of the Tackle, the initial hit was helped by Wainwright of which helped distribute the force from Pearson, but great technique from the Welsh Flanker and captain. pic.twitter.com/tnoJliLUa4

Back in 2011 it was a neck injury to Matthew Rees, Wales’s captain during the Six Nations, which forced Warren Gatland to rethink who would lead the side in New Zealand, turning to a then 22-year-old Warburton to lead Wales at the World Cup.

That decision worked out rather well, even with Warburton’s contentious red card in the semi-final against France, given it kick-started a fresh era of success for Wales under Gatland including the 2012 Grand Slam. Rees’s withdrawal had only been confirmed in mid-August to leave Wales with little time to adapt, whereas, 12 years later, Gatland has at least had the opportunity to mould both Morgan and Dewi Lake, Wales’s other co-captain, throughout the team’s training camps in Switzerland and Turkey this summer.

Toby Booth, the head coach of both Morgan and Lake at Ospreys, notes that there are differences when it comes to their leadership styles.

“Ospreys have produced quite a few Welsh captains and they all have one strong leadership trait, which is they lead by example, first and foremost. They really do. From an effort and intensity point of view, they would ever ask anyone to do something which they would not do themselves. That commands a lot of respect,” Booth tells Telegraph Sport.

“Dewi and Jac are different personalities, one is considerably more outgoing. Jac is a bit of a silent assassin. He’s very respectful, deliberate, but very much a person that will compete for every moment of every play.”

Morgan’s communication with referees is viewed as another positive, after Wales took a referee with them to their camp in Turkey to help with live drills. “[Morgan] was asking good, positive questions without being aggressive. That was probably an indication that we’d made the right call,” the Wales head coach Warren Gatland noted. Morgan’s prior experience captaining Wales Under-20s certainly helps too, as does the experience of a number of older heads in the squad playing at their third or even fourth World Cups in the cases of George North and Taulupe Faletau.

Prior to that win over England in Cardiff, Morgan had often been the bright spot in desperate Welsh defeats towards the end of the Wayne Pivac era, impressing last autumn against Georgia and Australia after he was left out of that year’s summer tour squad to South Africa. The explanation behind that omission was that Pivac wanted to see Morgan add more bulk.

“The reasons he was given [for being left out] didn’t factually stack up,” Booth adds. “They were his physical side and his influence at the breakdown – for turnovers he was in the top three of the United Rugby Championship that season.

“It became about seeing the opportunity, which was to have a full pre-season when most of your physical gains happen. His work ethic is exemplary and by November he was Jac Morgan but more determined to not relinquish his place. His attitude came to the fore.”

While Morgan is capable of covering across the back row, Gatland has been clear that he sees the player as an openside. In Tommy Reffell he has an excellent rival for the shirt.

Opting not to continue his mechanical engineering apprenticeship as a teenager has proven to be a shrewd decision for the new Wales co-captain. If Wales are successful, the Warburton comparisons will be relentless.

“Sam was unbelievable over the ball, and the exciting thing for Jac is I think we still have some progress to make in that area,” Booth acknowledged. “Where he is different [to Warburton] is that he is good on both sides of the ball. People talk about his size [at 5ft 11in], but he packs a punch.”

Wales will need him to thrive in both of those areas when their campaign gets underway against Fiji in Bordeaux.