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The Lions flanker has returned to the Wales squad but head coach Steve Tandy has opted to keep Dewi Lake as captain this summer
Jac Morgan says he has noticed a significant difference within the Wales set-up during his time away from Test rugby, as he returned to the squad and immediately threw his support behind captain Dewi Lake.
The back-rower, back in the international fold after more than seven months out, believes there has been clear growth under head coach Steve Tandy, having been forced to watch from the sidelines while Wales rebuilt during a challenging run of fixtures.
Morgan was the only Welsh player involved in last summer’s British and Irish Lions Test series against Australia and has missed the last eight Test matches under Tandy through injury.
But on his return, he says the environment feels markedly different.
“It’s been great to be able to watch because you can see how Steve and the coaches want to implement the game,” said Morgan. “You can see during the Six Nations we’re getting better and improving every game.
“You could see the identity we were trying to bring through. Every game, the boys were building.
“You always want to be out in the field, but it was great to be able to watch the boys play and I thought they did a brilliant job.
“I’m pretty chuffed to be back in camp with everyone. I’ve noticed a big difference.
“I was unfortunately only there for the first week or two under Steve to begin with. It was early days back then, but you can just tell how much the group has grown over the last few months, trying to play the way that the coaches want us to play.
“You can see how that’s implemented into our gameplan and how we want to play. There’s so much growth in the squad over the last few months.
“Probably the exciting thing is that there’s a lot of growth to come as well.”
A key part of that evolving Wales set-up is the captaincy, with Steve Tandy opting to stick with Dewi Lake as skipper this summer, starting with the win over the Barbarians in London.
Morgan and Lake were initially named co-captains ahead of the 2023 World Cup, before the Ospreys hooker retained leadership duties during Morgan’s spell on the sidelines following a dislocated shoulder in his first match as captain against Argentina last November.
With Morgan now back in the squad, he briefly took over the armband in the second half after Lake was substituted, but insisted his focus is firmly on supporting his close friend.
“I’m just looking forward to backing Dewi up,” said Morgan. “He’s a great captain, a great leader and someone you’ll always follow into a game.
“I try and support Dewi as best as I can and we’ve got a good group of leaders on and off the field. We’ve got a good group of leaders as well on the field, so that helps obviously.
“Dewi’s a brilliant leader, brilliant captain, so it’s brilliant to be behind him and help him as much as we can.”
Tandy himself has also been impressed by Morgan’s attitude on returning to camp.
“I had a conversation with Jac,” said Tandy. “I think it tells you everything about the character Jac is.
“He was like, ‘I’m just honoured to be back in the squad.’ He’s a class human being and he’ll be right there alongside Dewi.”
Morgan will now be a key figure for Wales as they prepare for a demanding summer schedule against Fiji, Argentina and South Africa, as Tandy continues to shape his evolving squad.
