Pivac’s wrong on Jac, but I’m sure he’ll be back
Ihave to confess I couldn’t believe it at first when I heard that Wayne Pivac hadn’t selected Jac Morgan to go to South Africa this summer. He’s been one of the best players for both the Ospreys and Wales this year, yet finds himself being left behind to work on his physicality.
I didn’t see anything wrong with his physicality for the Ospreys against the Bulls on Friday night. He stood up well to the South Africans on home soil and I’d have backed him to do the same out there this summer. He’s the turn-over king in the URC and the second highest tackler – he’ll be missed by Wales in July.
I have to declare an interest in Jac, given he is a product of the Amman Valley. And I’d put money on him being in the Welsh squad at next year’s World Cup. This is just a small dent in his career and you saw on Friday night how he reacts to adversity. He was superb against the Bulls.
He would have been hurting having been dropped from the squad, but his response was to put in another top-notch performance. His move from the Scarlets to the Ospreys last summer has been the making of him and he has benefitted from being around players like Dan Lydiate, Justin Tipuric and Alun Wyn Jones. He has a terrific work rate and a wonderful mental approach to his profession.
I know just how hard it is to tour South Africa and it is not a place to blood youngsters for the future. But Jac isn’t in that bracket anymore. He established himself as a member of the squad during the Six Nations and deserved a chance to develop his game against the Springboks.
I agree with 90 per cent of Wayne’s selections, but I think he got it wrong with Jac – I’m sure he’ll be back.
While Jac has missed out for the moment, it’s great to see Tommy Reffell getting his shot. He has matured into an established Premiership player at Leicester Tigers and the only surprise is that it has taken this long for him to get a callup. You have to be picking the players who are in form.
What the Bulls showed on Friday night in their 38-31 triumph over the Ospreys is how tough a task awaits Wayne and his players in the three Tests against the world champion Springboks in July. The way the Bulls play mirrors that of the Boks and their hard, straight running caused the Ospreys real problems. Toby Booth has done a great job in restoring confidence and re-building his team, but they do need to look at their defensive systems. They’ve leaked far too many tries this season and one or two were a bit soft on Friday night. If they can tighten things up then they will be a much, much better side next season because they’ve shown they can create chances and score tries themselves.
While the Ospreys can at least take some credit from picking up two points against the Bulls, what can you say about Dai Young’s Cardiff side? Never one to mince his words, he was spot on in saying that the best thing to come out of their 69-21 defeat in Trevsio was the fact it was their last game of the season.
There may be a few who point the finger at the coaches at the Arms Park for a pretty abject campaign, but I’d call out the players. What happened against Benetton Rugby was awful, especially when you look at the team Cardiff fielded. It wasn’t a bunch of no-hopers, there were many experienced international players in their line-up.
They really shouldn’t be losing by that margin to anyone, let alone Benetton. It was 10 tries to three in the end! It was a performance that proved the players were probably on the beach already and backed up Dai’s frequently held view that he has a number of players in his squad who simply aren’t good enough to get to the level expected of him. It looked to me as though the season finished in the minds of the Cardiff players a long time ago.
I hate being critical of players knowing as I do how hard they have to work. But, like Dai, you have to call it as it is when you realise how poor things have become.
He faces a long, hard summer trying to re-build shattered confidence, team morale and the faith of the fans. Taulupe Faletau, Lopeti Timani, Tom Young and Liam Williams will all come in and make a difference next season, but it looks as though it’s going to take more than a handful of new players to change the picture.
Perhaps Dai should get his squad to sit down and watch the Heineken Champions Cup final between Leinster and La Rochelle this weekend to emphasise the gulf that currently exists between them and the top tier of players in Europe at their level.
What a fascinating contest it is going to be. Can La Rochelle really raise their game high enough to stop Leinster?
They will have learned from the heartbreak of losing in last year’s final and with Ronan O’Gara’s history against the Dubliners I think they might just have enough to knock-over the favourites.
What a competitor ROG was as a player and obviously is as a coach. He is carving out a great coaching career for himself and certainly looks to be an international coach in the making. It would be a fairy tale for him to become only the second person to win the greatest club trophy in the world both as a player and a coach.
The first was his opposite number on Saturday – Leinster’s Leo Cullen! The scene is set for an epic battle and I’ll be glued to my TV. There will be a lot to be admired and learned once the game kicks off.
“Morgan deserved a chance to develop his game against the Springboks”