BOILER ROOM BOYS FACING UP TO THE UNENVIABLE TASK OF REPLACING AWJ
THE story goes that on a dark midweek night at Abertillery Park back in the day gnarled, seen-it-all members of one of Welsh rugby’s most respected packs were left looking askance at each other, wondering what had just happened.
Some were left in full Edvard Munch-mode, open-mouthed and amazed.
There had been three line-outs and every one of them had been picked off with real authority by a kid none of them had seen or heard of before.
“Whoosh!” the tale went. “The youngster leapt like a salmon to take some of the cleanest catches you’ll ever see.”
That youngster was Robert Norster, then of Abertillery.
Years later, one of the opposition players that night told a friend of this writer: “You had to see it to believe it. It was obvious, then, that he was going to go on and play for Wales.”
And so it turned out.
But it doesn’t always turn out that way.
Early promise can sometimes be ground down by the harsh reality of senior rugby.
So what’s it to be for three young second rows who stood out for their regions in Europe last weekend?
Morgan Jones excelled for the Scarlets in their Heineken Champions Cup clash at Bath, while Ben Carter stood out for the Dragons against Wasps in the same competition.
And Rhys Davies caught the eye for the Ospreys in their 39-15 win over Castres.
We take a close look at the trio many believe could be the future of the Welsh boiler room long after Alun Wyn Jones has retired...
MORGAN JONES
A SEASON or two ago the Scarlets lost Jake Ball for the second half against the Ospreys and their performance went downhill rapidly. Their previously dominant scrum started hitting problems and they missed Ball’s physicality around the field.
Some may have feared the worst, then, when the same player went off injured after just eight minutes in the Champions Cup encounter with Bath at The Rec last weekend.
The Englishmen had a highly respected lock pairing of Charlie Ewels and the 6ft 7in, 19st 9lb Josh McNally, after all.
But anyone harbouring concerns from a west Walian perspective needn’t have worried.
With Sam Lousi having an immense game, holding up countless opponents in the tackle and bringing a ruthless physicality to proceedings, and Morgan Jones stepping seamlessly into Ball’s position, the Scarlets were able to set in place a platform for victory.
Jones took his chance impressively.
His highlight moment came in the final play as home scrum-half Ben Spencer surged for the line from short-range, only to be cut down by the young Scarlet, leaving him millimetres short of the line.
Seconds later, referee Alexandre Ruiz blew for full-time, with the Welsh side 23-19 winners.
But there had been so much more to Jones’ performance.
At one stage he galloped upfield with the ball, making a dozen metres. He also proved a willing defender, with 14 hits. And he wasn’t in any way fazed by the physicality of a Champions Cup encounter.
At 21, the 6ft 7in, 17st 4lb youngster is one of the reasons the Scarlets are optimistic about the future. He and fellow lock Jac Price have been identified as two outstanding prospects who can operate at the heart of the side’s pack for years.
His effort in Bath certainly met with the approval of Scarlets’ supporters, with a number of them queuing up to praise him on the Scarlet Fever website. A “hell of a prospect to invest in,” one enthused, while someone else suggested Jones “looks destined for big things.”
It’s hard to disagree with either of those suggestions.
BEN CARTER
ANYONE who watched Wales in the 2020 U20s Six Nations would have surely picked up on the potential of this teenager from Caldicot.
He played in every minute of every game and didn’t stop working, piling up the tackles, competing strongly at line-outs and offering himself as a carrier.
The youngster also showed a maturity and tactical acumen beyond his years with his input into the decision-making process, emerging as a leader.
Locks can take time to develop physically and acquire the robustness required to truly make a mark on the senior scene, so patience is usually needed.
But after three outings for the Dragons, Carter is already exciting those who are not prone to overexcitement.
“I have never seen a youngster come in and get all of his jigsaw pieces right and then be able to work off the back of it,” said Dragons director of rugby Dean Ryan after a full debut against Glasgow Warriors that saw Carter make 31 tackles without a single miss.
“As you’d imagine, at the start of your journey there is an awful lot going into your head and therefore there’s a higher chance of getting one of those pieces wrong.
“The performance in Glasgow was testimony to how hard Ben works off the field.
“He is a great example to any youngster because these guys haven’t been playing A games or anything else. Ben has been learning in training and off the field.
“We were all fairly confident that he was ready but we probably did expect him to make a few errors.
“To see as clean a performance as that was incredibly impressive and testimony to how hard the modern youngster works and the amount of things they look at.”
A notable moment against Wasps in Newport last weekend saw
Carter pinch an opposition line-out five metres from his own line – a not inconsiderable achievement given that the visitors boasted an international lock pairing in Joe Launchbury and Will Rowlands.
The youngster also banged in 15 tackles to follow his 31 in Scotland and showed an appetite for carrying, driving forward with ball in hand.
The Dragons have good reason to be excited about him.
RHYS DAVIES
NOT much has been said about this lad’s effort for the Ospreys against
Castres, so we’ll fill the void.
There may not have been any charges forward to prompt too many to jump out of their armchairs in appreciation at home, but with the French pouring forward after the break the need was for uncompromising defence and Davies proved the man for the job.
He finished with a prodigious 19 tackles, with not one Castres ballcarrier finding a way past him.
With six clean catches, he was also a key figure in an Ospreys line-out that didn’t miss a beat: 19 throws sent in, every one of them taken by home jumpers.
Davies has areas of his game that can be developed but he’s a unit who seems to relish the physical side of the sport. “He’s raw, but he looks to have a lot to offer,” said an Ospreys insider during the summer.
“He’s all knees and elbows, a player you wouldn’t want to come up against.
“All the bits are in place for him to be a good player.”
An ex-Wales international, who didn’t want to be named, went further, saying: “He’ll be playing for Wales within two years.
“The thing is with Rhys, he’s not just a big man. He’s also athletic and good defensively. He can win the ball, carry it and stop others in their tracks.
“Undoubtedly, he would have benefited from Luke Charteris’ presence at Bath.
“My understanding is that Luke thinks the world of him.”
Throw Christ Tshiunza, Jac Price and the highly regarded Cardiff
Blues youngster Teddy Williams into the mix and the next generation of potential locks for Wales is starting to look impressive.
There’s also James Ratti and Will Griffiths on the scene, as well, albeit the pair have been doubling up as blindsides of late.
Last weekend, three of the new wave stepped forward in Europe and weren’t found wanting.
It augurs well.
In a key position, Welsh rugby looks to be well-stocked for years to come.