LONG READ Why Jac Morgan is a British and Irish Lions Test starter

“Jac Morgan’s a Lions starter” may sound like a lyric overlooked by Liam Howlett and The Prodigy, but much like the actual song ‘Firestarter’, the notion of Jac Morgan becoming a British & Irish Lion is also worth listening to. In fact, this column isn’t just suggesting he make the squad, but serious consideration should be given to him being a Test Lion. The author is Welsh, but hopefully the argument below will at least balance out any overt bias – ish.

As with all recent Lions selections, there are absolutely stacks of quality No 7s to pick from. There are so many players in the men’s game who fit the physical ‘blueprint’ of a seven. Put simply, unless you are a genuinely elite open-side, you don’t make it anywhere near Test rugby. There aren’t many 6ft 8ins locks knocking around Britain and Ireland. Nor are there many 6ft tight-heads with necks the same width of a plump baby hippo. But there are plenty of lads who are around 6ft 1ins and 16st, who absolutely love ruining other players’ days.

The Six Nations is a great example of this. Josh van der Flier, Tom Curry and Rory Darge are all in immaculate form. We’re only including those three in this discussion, as they are the leading contenders (with Ben Earl largely playing at No 8 for England). After the second round of fixtures, as you can see in the table below, all four players are excelling at different sub skills within their overall positional skillset – some are carrying more, some are jackaling more. It’s also worth noting all four have played 160 minutes each, so the stats are only skewed by opposition, not minutes played.

But here is the main difference between Morgan and the rest. Van der Flier, Curry and Darge are all doing it in teams who are dominant, or at the very least competitive – the Welshman is not. Successful sides in the Six Nations and Rugby World Cup cycles have always contributed the majority of Lions and rightly so. When England were in their pomp in the early 2000s, they dominated the Lions squad. When Wales were swaggering, notably in 2013, it was their turn. In 2025, Irish names will deservedly pepper the touring party. But that shouldn’t mean some individuals can’t be selected from teams which have been struggling.

You could argue playing well in a poor team is a better measure of excellence than performing well in a good one. And that is exactly where Morgan finds himself; constantly ploughing forward for Wales, when virtually everyone else around him is going in the opposite direction – it’s like watching a Jamiroquai video.

It’s also not as though Morgan’s form for Wales is an outlier. While some players will clearly try to peak for their national team, Morgan plays his guts out year-round for the Ospreys. When the ground staff clear the pitch in Swansea, they’re not just removing soil and litter, but bits of Morgan – from the last time he left it all out there on the pitch.

As captain of his region and country, the flanker’s leadership would prove a valuable asset on tour. In a squad where very few players know each other outside of their Test bubbles, having amenable leaders who can help gel individuals together quickly is vital. Plus, even if Morgan isn’t seen as a starter in the Test squad initially, you will find no finer midweek captain for the opening games.

When mentioning the inclusion of Morgan on the Lions tour, many will reference the Welsh quota that’ll need to be selected. Which is true. While the Lions isn’t exactly a ‘participation badge’ event, excluding one nation entirely, no matter how weak, is not a good look – and never has been. But Morgan’s selection, if it happens, shouldn’t be seen as a box tick. He’s not the type of player you could keep contained in a box, unless it was a military shipping container.

Excelling as a player in a team that isn’t should count for something. We’ll see if the selectors agree.

Terms and Conditions :  These are the views of Paul Williams, an increasingly tired Welshman. His nation hasn’t won a match for 14 games. Please give this due consideration before arriving en masse, in South Wales, and ‘keying’ the side of his car.