England man Ellis Genge has picked out Jac Morgan for praise
Lions prop Ellis Genge has heaped praise on ‘top bloke’ Jac Morgan as the solitary Welshman in the Lions squad.
Since Tomos Williams’ injury, the softly-spoken Morgan has been flying the flag for Wales on his own.
He narrowly missed out on selection for the first Test, but Genge has praised the Ospreys captain for how he’s fitted in despite being the only Welshman in the squad.
His omission from the Test 23 has caused some consternation in some quarters but the competition for the number seven shirt has been fierce, with Tom Curry getting the nod this weekend. Sign up to Inside Welsh rugby on Substack to get exclusive news stories and insight from behind the scenes in Welsh rugby.
Genge knows the Lions have a very good tourist in the camp in the shape of the Wales skipper, revealing his new nickname.
“The Brynamman Bomber! He’s a legend,” said the England loosehead.
“Everyone asks me that, that’s the first thing they ask me ‘how are you getting on with the boys’ and if you get picked for a team like this, and you’ve been in that environment, and that level for that long, you’ve got to be a good bloke.
“You wouldn’t get too far if you weren’t.
“He’s a legend. I play a lot of cards with him, and my missus is Welsh so I’ve got plenty to talk to him about.
“He’s a top bloke.”
The pair appear to be sparking a real bond Down Under, with Genge posting a picture of him picking up his team-mate in a bear hug-like pose following the Welshman’s try against Queensland Reds earlier on in the tour.
Meanwhile, Andy Farrell has urged his side to embrace their tag as heavy favourites against the Wallabies, following a week of bold predictions.
Henry Pollock started the week by saying a 3-0 series win was “definitely on the table”, with the rest of the squad backing up the England back-row’s statement. The Lions certainly head into the first Test in Brisbane as strong favourites – especially with Australia missing Rob Valetini and Will Skelton through injury.
While Australia are the underdogs, a chance meeting in Brisbane between former Great Britain rugby league captain Farrell and his old Kangaroos sparring partner Gordon Tallis only served to highlight the fighting spirit Down Under.
“I actually saw him in the street. I went ‘Gordy’ and he said ‘flipping heck!’. We had a good 20 minutes in the street and it was good to catch up with him,” Farrell said.
“He said everyone used to talk about Queensland being underdogs. He said we never, ever saw it that way. And Australia will be exactly the same.
“If you’re in a position where it comes down to this every 12 years and you get to pull the shirt on for the Wallabies and the privilege that goes with that, representing your country, they’ll be fighting tooth and nail.
“One hundred per cent we want to embrace being favourites. Why wouldn’t you? There’s no overconfidence at all. It’s having an inner confidence within our group that we are going to execute the plan when it matters.
He added: “Make sure you don’t have regrets and you don’t get in your own way. You don’t want to come off the pitch and think ‘I wish I had another chance’. You’ve got to make it happen when it matters.”.
Earlier on Thursday, Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt hinted at a lack of respect shown to his side ahead of this summer’s series.
“I don’t know how much respect we’ve been shown,” Schmidt told reporters in Brisbane on Thursday. “What I would say is we’ve been working hard.
“The respect we are trying to earn is from our supporters and the people who turn up to support us and [we want] to demonstrate to them that their support is really appreciated by us.
“We’re doing everything we can do earn it during that 80 minutes.”
