The Wales flanker was awarded the player of the match gong and the Lions boss was full of praise after the match
Lions head coach Andy Farrell said Jac Morgan “was everywhere” after the flanker’s player-of-the-match performance against the Queensland Reds.
Morgan is now the only Welsh player on tour after Tomos Williams’ devastating injury during the win over Western Force last weekend ruled him out for the rest of the summer. Fortunately for Welsh fans watching on, Ospreys captain Morgan stepped up and then some in his countryman’s absence.
He enjoyed the most carry metres (49m) of any Lions forward and was the top tackler with 21. He also picked up three jackal turnovers, too. Sign up to Inside Welsh rugby on Substack to get exclusive news stories and insight from behind the scenes in Welsh rugby.
He was rightly named the player of the match and left the media and pundits gushing over his performance.
Ultimately, though, it’s Farrell whom Morgan has to impress.
The Lions boss will be whittling down his options for the starting XV for the first Test match on July 19 and it now looks as though the Wales skipper is right in contention.
He started the 52-12 win over the Reds at openside, with Tom Curry operating on the blindside.
However, when asked if Morgan would be able to cross over to six for the Tests, Farrell did not rule out the concept entirely.
“If he plays like he did today, he can play wherever he wants,” Farrell said.
“He was everywhere. His offloading game was great, he was aggressive with his hitting.
“He’ll be delighted. The competition has started and there’s reactions all over the place to come.”
Speaking more generally about the game, which saw flashes of real quality, Farrell was philosophical despite a comfortable scoreline.
Speaking to Sky Sports, he said: “It was not flowing. When we got going we did play some good stuff.
“Our collision work was good and that helped us keep them out in the second half.
“We will always have constant learnings.”
Morgan, who might have to battle it out with Curry and Tom van der Flier for that seven shirt, himself was his typical humble self following the match, praising the team rather than his own individual display.
“It was a good game. It was a very physical game, especially the first half. It was a tough match so it was good to get the win.,” he said.
“It was a full team performance, we spoke about playing for 80 minutes and that is what we did. We kept on building and we will keep on building over the next couple of weeks.
“We will look at the game and then ahead to Sydney.”
