Fearless first-five stands tall for Hurricanes
At 1.72m, Aidan Morgan is one of the shortest players in Super Rugby Pacific. But the young playmaker is standing tall for the Hurricanes.
Coach Jason Holland admitted he was getting anxious watching his fearless first-five launch himself into everything during their record 71-22 win over Moana Pasifika at Sky Stadium on Saturday evening.
Morgan is the only fit player in his position in the Hurricanes squad at the moment.
The former King’s College First XV player produced one of the highlights of the match when he pulled off an acrobatic offload to set up the 59th-minute try for rightwinger Salesi Rayasi.
Palisio Tosi popped a pass for Morgan as the replacement prop went to ground and 21-year-old caught the ball and threw himself towards the try-line.
Tipping the scales at just 81kg, Morgan was held up in mid-air by the staunch Moana defence.
But he somehow managed to get a pass away before hitting the ground.
The ball bounced along the ground but Rayasi pounced to score the Hurricanes’ eighth try during the 49-point drubbing.
Morgan scored one himself too. Rayasi tried to run on the outside of the Moana defence but threw a pass inside when he ran out of room.
Morgan picked up the ball and burrowed under a tackler to score in the 14th minute.
“He doesn’t lack intent, does he? He throws his body around for a little man,” Holland said of Morgan after the game.
“I’m sure he knows what he weighs so you’d like to see him go a bit more old school No. 10 and look after himself a bit more, but he’s just getting better and better every game.
“He’s got no fear.”
Morgan has been the Hurricanes’ starting No. 10 by default for most of the season with Brett Cameron (knee) and Ruben Love (groin) sidelined with long-term injuries.
Harry Godfrey, who started at fullback against Moana, can also cover
■ Chiefs 22 – 25 Queensland Reds
■ Western Force 34 – 14 Fijian Drua
■ Hurricanes 71 – 22 Moana Pasifika
■ Crusaders 15 – 3 Blues
■ NSW Waratahs 38 – 20 Melbourne Rebels first-five but his rookie season has been brought to a premature end due to his New Zealand under-20 commitments.
That could leave Morgan as the last-man standing heading into a series of New Zealand derbies to round out the regular season, which is why Holland was a little worried watching him hurl himself at Moana tacklers.
“When Aids is throwing himself around as our only fit No. 10 and Harry is leaving it’s a little scary. He’s got to stay fit and keep growing,” said Holland, who added Morgan has been improving every week.
“He’s growing in his game, he’s seeking feedback every week and we’re just tweaking parts of his game, especially control and he’s getting it on his terms a lot more.
“We’re not hectic, we’re not running everything, we understand it’s on to kick at times and he’s getting a really good balance of that.” The Hurricanes blitzed Moana with 42 unanswered points in the second half to notch their equal biggest score at home.
Captain Ardie Savea scored a hattrick of tries, including two in the final 10 minutes, while flying Fijian Kini Naholo chimed in with a double.
The 11-try demolition lifted the Hurricanes back into the top four following last week’s shock loss to Fijian Drua.
However, they have a tough run of games to come, taking on the Chiefs, Blues and Crusaders.