Jac Morgan (born 21 January 2000) is a Welsh

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player, who plays in the backrow for the Ospreys and Wales. He is the current captain of the

Wales national rugby union team The Wales national rugby union team () represents the Welsh Rugby Union in men's international rugby union. Its governing body, the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU), was established in 1881, the same year that Wales played their first international agai ...

Early life

Jac Morgan was born in Sketty,

Swansea Swansea ( ; ) is a coastal City status in the United Kingdom, city and the List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, second-largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of ...

, and grew up in Brynamman. He attended school at

Ysgol Dyffryn Aman Ysgol Dyffryn Aman ( Amman Valley School) is a bilingual ( Welsh and English) comprehensive school and sixth form in Ammanford, Carmarthenshire, Wales. It is situated on Margaret Street in the north of Ammanford town centre. The school has approx ...

, and gave up a mechanical engineering apprenticeship to pursue professional rugby union.

Club career

Morgan came through the Scarlets academy and made his debut in the Challenge Cup clash with

London Irish London Irish RFC is a professional rugby union club that most recently competed in the Premiership Rugby, Premiership, the top division of rugby union in England. The club also participated in the European Rugby Champions Cup, European Champion ...

in November 2019. Morgan then scored his first professional try in the Pro 14 defeat to

Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

. After returning from a knee injury in February, Morgan crossed for two tries in a man-of-the-match display against Benetton, before putting in 25 tackles to help the Scarlets claim a crucial victory over

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

. This led to Morgan being voted Scarlets Player of the Month for February. In March 2021, it was announced that Morgan would join local rivals Ospreys following expiration of his contract. He began his Ospreys career in great form, being awarded man of the match in their 18–10 victory over

Munster Munster ( or ) is the largest of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the south west of the island. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" (). Following the Nor ...

on 23 October 2021. He was overlooked for selection for the Wales for the upcoming Autumn test series, despite recognition from press and pundits alike. Morgan was named man of the match on 20 January 2023, scoring an 88th minute try as the Ospreys beat

Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its home ...

at Welford Road, securing their place in the knockouts of the 2022–23 Champions Cup. Morgan can play at blindside, number eight, and openside flanker. He is relatively small compared to most, but not all, top international players in these positions.

International career

In the

Six Nations Under 20s Championship The Six Nations Under 20s Championship is an international rugby union tournament. It is the under-20s equivalent of the Six Nations Championship. Originally the tournament was in an under-21 format but changed to under-20s in 2008. England ...

2019-20 he captained Wales and achieved more turnovers than any other player in this tournament. He was called up to the senior

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

squad for the

2022 Six Nations Championship The 2022 Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Six Nations for sponsorship reasons) was the 23rd Six Nations Championship, the annual rugby union competition contested by the national teams of England national rugby union team, England, ...

. Morgan made his senior Wales debut on 12 February 2022 in the 20-17 victory over Scotland. Morgan was controversially dropped by Wales coach Wayne Pivac, ahead of the 2022 tour of South Africa. Consistent performances for the Ospreys saw him recalled to the Welsh squad for the

2022 end-of-year rugby union internationals The 2022 end of year rugby union tests, also known as the 2022 Autumn internationals, were a number of rugby union test matches played during the months of October and November. Some of the games were known as the Autumn Nations Series for marketin ...

. Morgan scored four tries in two matches, gaining plaudits from the press despite an overall poor series for the side. Morgan retained his place in the Welsh squad for the 2023 Six Nations. He showed his versatility early on in the tournament, starting the first match against Ireland as a blindside flanker, before moving to number eight in the following fixture against Scotland. He was chosen to co-captain the Welsh squad for the

2023 Rugby World Cup The 2023 Rugby World Cup () was the tenth men's Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national rugby union teams. It took place in France from 8 September to 28 October 2023 in nine venues across the country. The opening game ...

alongside Dewi Lake. Morgan scored tries in the World Cup games against

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

International tries

References

External links

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WRU profileOspreys profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morgan, Jac 2000 births Living people Scarlets players 21st-century Welsh sportsmen Rugby union flankers Ospreys (rugby union) players Welsh rugby union players Wales international rugby union players Rugby union players from Carmarthen 2023 Rugby World Cup players