Rising Stars - Welsh Wrecking Ball, Jac Morgan

"If he develops fully, there is every chance he'll go all the way. You see these youngsters coming through and the top-end ones stand out a mile. Jac is one of those.”

The above was said last year by Aberavon RFC coach, Jason Hyatt, of current Wales U20 captain, Jac Morgan.

The U20 Six Nations competition saw Wales push through a decent campaign, winning 3 of their 5 fixtures. The successes of the team were in no small way spearheaded by the efforts and leadership of Morgan.

It was the Scarlets blindside’s second year representing his country’s U20 outfit and he had previously also run out for the U18 side.

Morgan is at home anywhere in the back-row and, as the recent tournament has shown, revels in the physicality of rugby.

Following close behind the sterling effort of his teammate Morgan Strong, Jac executed the second-highest tackle count of the Six Nations with 83, averaging 16.6 per game.

However, it is another stat which cultivates a glow around his name; that of turnovers won. Morgan managed a competition total of 10 turnovers (highest overall). The second most were, again, by back-row partner, Strong, with 6.

It is an area of the game for which Morgan has an obvious talent and drive, and has honed his technique to near perfection – putting his 1.8m, 102kg body on the line at ruck time amid waves of big forwards crashing into him in mostly unsuccessful attempts to separate him from the ball.

Despite his achievements over the years, Morgan does not seem quite convinced that a career in rugby is his ultimate goal. The mechanical engineering student is as happy exploring his studies as he is in the heat of the breakdown, and currently bides his time off the pitch with an apprenticeship.

“I like my work outside the game, designing parts, dealing with customers and orders, and spending time drawing packages on a computer,” he said, “But I’m also enjoying my rugby. It’s a difficult one.

“I know a playing career happens at only one point in your life, but one injury could end it all. It would be nice to have something to fall back on, which I have with the apprenticeship.”

Whichever vocational pursuit the young loose-forward ultimately decides to follow, what cannot be denied is that his displays of courage and competence in the game of rugby would undoubtedly make him a welcome addition to the Welsh senior set-up in the years to come.