Jac Morgan stands there as the madness unfolds around him. A classic Lions Test is nearing its conclusion and the Welshman has just been thrust into the spotlight in uncomfortable fashion.
It’s all going a bit Auckland 2017. A Wales player at the centre of a refereeing decision that will settle a Lions tour.
As the world finds out, the chaos unfolds. Still, Morgan stands there – perfectly still. No reaction at all. And then, it erupts.
A fist pump is all he can muster to begin with. Then, Bundee Aki and Jamison Gibson-Park jump on him, enveloping the Welsh captain totally.
Pure relief etched all over his body as Owen Farrell embraces him. Soon, red jerseys surround him.
In the middle, Morgan stands there arm-in-arm with Welsh team doctor Geoff Davies, drinking it in. Further away, Mack Hansen and Jamie George lift match-winner Hugo Keenan onto their shoulders as Henry Pollock bows down to the Irish full-back.
Morgan, taking a moment to himself, sees something in the crowd and heads over. It’s Brian and Richard from Cardiff, dressed up as lions with ‘Jac’ and ‘Tomos’ on their chests.
He bounds over to them, embracing the two face-painted men and posing for selfies.
As he goes to make his way around the pitch, the Welsh flags begin to drape down at the side of the pitch in greater frequency.
Morgan spots something in the corner of his eye. A Welsh bucket hat on the turf.
He heads over and picks it up, putting it on his head to the delight of the crowd. He chucks it back to the fans, but they throw it straight back.
It’s his. Tonight, it’s all his.
The madness has subsided. With it, Morgan is not only a Test Lion, but a series-winning one too.
The calm before the storm
Hours before the madness, the sight of Melbourne Cricket Ground over the Yarra River sat pleasingly on the horizon.
Walking down Flinders Street, the foot traffic was a precession – all in one direction. The queue outside of the Duke of Wellington pub snaked from the door and up into a back alley.
One kilted Lions fan emerged from the pub with a rugby ball, dummying past locals with enthusiastic show-and-goes. All roads, it seems, led to the MCG.
Some were quicker than others, though. In the build-up, the Lions were on the pitch before the Wallabies were even in the building.
Stuck in traffic, it was hardly ideal for the Wallabies as they looked to keep the series alive. For the Welsh fans inside and outside the famous ground, there was a palpable excitement.
One of the two Cardiff men dressed as Lions that caught the eye in Brisbane last week admitted he’d probably run on the pitch if and when Jac Morgan gets on. One former Wales international said it was “all set up for a 77th minute jackal penalty by Morgan to win the series” as he headed into the ground.
Little did he know how things would unfold.
“What time does the Test start tonight?” a fellow journalist asked as I arrived to the press box. “About 20 past nine,” is my response.
For this was, for so many Lions fans, the Jac Morgan Test. The sole Welshman in the squad, for those who had come from the land of their fathers, it meant something more to have representation.
Of course it did. For all the talk of the Lions being an entity, an anachronism that shouldn’t work, it undoubtedly means more when one of your own is there.
The man himself went about his business in the warm-up the way he always does. Quiet, unassuming. As he got about his business, Simon Easterby stopped him for a quiet word, putting his arm around the openside.
As the teams were read out, there were no nicknames or titles for the Wallabies. Max Jorgensen is no longer ‘rugby royalty’, dethroned he is now just Max Jorgensen.
Each name was given gusto though, as the desperation of this match permeated through every position. There were big receptions for Will Skelton and Rob Valetini, the Wallabies’ returning bruisers.
As the announcer tried to rush through the replacements, the Lions’ backline cover was dwarfed by the roar for Morgan.
The Wales captain took his place on the small white plastic chairs as the action began. As others around him leant back, Morgan shifted forward in his chair – eyes focused intently on the match.
The action begins
As the first breakdown penalty gies against the Lions, Morgan sits back in his chair – turning to have a word with his team-mates about what exactly went wrong there.
The Shane Warne stand may be largely red, but after a subdued night in Brisbane, the MCG is rocking. The sheer amount of niggle – largely instigated by Skelton.
“Are you being fair dinkum mate?” he asks referee Andrea Piardi – a phrase the Italian has likely never heard before. “Sir, he started it,” says Lions captain Maro Itoje after another encounter with his second-row opponent – bringing about a roar of laughter in the ground.
Soon, the hard yards of Skelton and Valetini start to have an effect. The Wallabies build a slight lead.
Suddenly, having been pushing the tempo with quick kick-offs, Piardi is hurrying the tourists back to take a restart. The Lions are rattled.
Soon, the lead grows. Jake Gordon, then Tom Wright, push the Wallabies ahead in quickfire fashion. Morgan, calm as you like, takes a sip from his water bottle.
Next to him, Owen Farrell rises to his feet in frustration. He walks around, before letting his frustration out in conversation with the rest of the bench.
There are more twists to come. Two tries for the Lions. Australia head down the tunnel looking spent. And that’s just the first 40 minutes.
As the second-half gets underway, Morgan and Farrell – warming up behind the one set of posts – are deep in conversation as the play goes on.
As they walk back to the bench, Farrell is caught on the big screen – eliciting boos from the home fans. Then it happens.
Morgan, on the sideline, takes his warm-up jacket off. So too does Ellis Genge and James Ryan. It’s happening.
Morgan and Genge, the close friends forged on this tour, share a little hug as they come on. Standing there, hands on his hips, the roar from the crowd is huge as his smiling face pops up on the screen and his name is read out.
It’s all building to something, this classic encounter, but what. As Keenan sneaks over late on, pandemonium breaks out. Tadhg Furlong bundles off the bench in celebration, his legs flailing in every direction as he jumps into the arms of Dan Sheehan.
Morgan picks up Jack Conan off the floor, as always in understated fashion. He doesn’t know what is yet to come. Ultimately, none of it mattered once the madness stopped.
