The omission of the Welsh skipper has been one of the key talking points ahead of Saturday’s opening Test
Andy Farrell deserves credit for not caving in to ‘tokenism’ after leaving Jac Morgan out of his British and Irish Lions squad for the opening Test with Australia this weekend.
That’s the view in some corners of the English media, who have already been dissecting the decision to omit the only Welshman in the touring party.
It’s the first time since 1896 a Lions side hasn’t featured a single Welsh player, a sobering statistic that further underlines the concerning decline of Welsh rugby.
Daily Telegraph writer Oliver Brown, whose incorrect reference to Wales as a ‘principality’ might well rub fans here up the wrong way, went even further, describing the lack of Welsh representation as a ‘humiliation’.
“Of all the moments of reckoning for Welsh rugby since the last World Cup, few have been so bleak as the principality’s failure to produce even a single member of the British and Irish Lions squad here in Brisbane, its first such humiliation for 129 years,” Brown wrote.
“While Andy Farrell’s decision to leave out Jac Morgan against the Wallabies is a bitter pill for the player himself, it pales against the corrosive effect that this move will have on national pride.”
Brown also believes that while there’s certainly a case for Morgan to feel unlucky to miss out, the decision to go with Tom Curry is the correct call.
“It is possible to regard Morgan as deeply unfortunate here,” he added. “With 48 tackles completed, five turnovers won and 26 rucks hit on tour so far, he is at the top of the Lions rankings by each of those metrics.
“Still, there is little doubt that for an occasion of the magnitude of this first Test, he is not quite in Curry’s league.”
He also insists that this shouldn’t be treated this “is not some calculated snub, merely a logical consequence of the Lions’ embarrassment of back-row riches”, and praised Farrell for not going with a selection that might well have proved performative.
“Tokenism should always be resisted at the pinnacle of international sport,” he concludes. “This is not a moment for making some perfunctory effort to appease the under-represented Welsh, but to assemble the mightiest side at Farrell’s disposal. And for all the respect that Morgan has deservedly drawn in Australia, his Test place must come only because he is the best available, not because he warrants some form of sympathy vote.”
Alex Lowe of the The Times similarly believes Curry is the right choice, but says Morgan can consider himself unlucky to miss out, but insists Curry was always likely to be a nailed on starter.
“It is possible to construct a strong argument why Jac Morgan should be in the No7 jersey,” he wrote.
“On the back of a Six Nations for Wales when it felt like he was fighting a one-man resistance, Morgan has been excellent on this tour. Abrasive. Competitive. Selfless. Combative.
“Morgan would have been the best jackalling option, but the Lions do not appear interested in competing heavily and regularly on the floor. They were penalised a lot early in the tour, they have had their frustrations with how the contact area has been refereed and they have backed away from trying to win breakdown turnovers. Josh van der Flier is more of a link man, well known to Farrell.
“Had the Lions head coach wanted either of those, then he would have slipped Curry across to the blind side. Either way, he was always going to be in the team.”
Chris Foy of The Daily Mail, however, believes Farrell has potentially gone with pedigree over form in this opening squad.
“The visitors are set to rely on a side full of stellar reputations, but in several positions the players who have performed best are expected to miss out,” he said.
“That is certainly the case at No 8, where Ben Earl has made more of an impact than Jack Conan, but the Irish specialist is preferred.
“There are various other examples, as the head coach is following the example of so many predecessors by trusting in players he knows best.
“The pattern continues up front. Tom Curry has not reached his own familiar heights, but he will start at openside ahead of Jac Morgan, who has played the house down and been the Lions’ pre-eminent jackal threat on the tour to date.”
Former Wales and Lions star Dan Biggar is another who believes Morgan is unlucky to have been overlooked, but admits the level of competition for the number seven jersey meant it was always going to be a tricky decision.
Speaking to Sky Sports, he said: “In terms of the back row I suppose that was the most competitive part of the team, and I think Jac Morgan can find himself really hard done by.
“Yes I’m probably going to have that little bit of bias given he’s the only Welshman on tour, but I just think that back row is so hard. That number seven, you could have picked Earl, you could have picked van der Flier, you could have picked Morgan, Curry, Pollock, and nobody would have really complained, and I think that shows the strength in depth of that position.
“But Jac Morgan, I thought, has been outstanding on tour. every time he’s put the shirt on he’s been brilliant. So I think he can count himself really unlucky. Interesting in his press conference that Andy Farrell basically said that Tom Curry, well we know what sort of Test animal he is, and if you look at that back row combination, they’ve all been there and done it for the Lions before. They’ve all been there in big moments in big games, and I think that’s why he’s gone for that combination in the back row.
“But Jac Morgan can absolutely count himself really unlucky.”
Meanwhile, centre Tom Shanklin , who was part of the tour of New Zealand in 2005, believes Morgan’s absence is simply a reflection on the state of Welsh rugby right now.
He told the BBC: “Perhaps our best hope of a Test starter [Tomos Williams] got injured early on but I still think it’s tough on Jac because I had him in my starting team and so did many others.
“He has been the Lions’ best performer at the breakdown and they’re going to need that, but the back row is so competitive and it appears Farrell has gone more for size and power.
“But it’s still a sad reflection of where Wales are right now. Even back in the nineties when Wales were not winning championships we still had outstanding individuals like Allan Bateman, Scott Gibbs and Neil Jenkins who could mix it with the best.
“We don’t have enough players like Jac Morgans or Tomos Williams.”
However, he believes there’s every chance Morgan may yet have a say on his series.
“However, I still think there’s a chance for Jac this series. History shows us the Lions team for the first Test usually looks very different to the last.” Sign up to Inside Welsh rugby on Substack to get exclusive news stories and insight from behind the scenes in Welsh rugby.
