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The Wales captain is expected to miss the majority of the Six Nations after dislocating his shoulder in the autumn
Ospreys head coach Mark Jones says Wales captain Jac Morgan is “tracking well” and could soon return to rugby-focused activities in the coming weeks.
However, the former Wales wing was unable to confirm whether that could translate to a return to the pitch during the Six Nations. The British and Irish Lions back-row is due to miss the bulk of the tournament after dislocating his shoulder against Argentina in November.
The 25-year-old – who will join Gloucester next season – had to undergo surgery after picking up the injury in the 52-28 defeat.
The early prognosis was four to five months on the sidelines, meaning the Ospreys captain would miss the start of the Six Nations – with even his involvement in the latter matches against Ireland and Italy being doubtful.
However, former Wales wing Jones said that the openside is going well in his recovery – with Morgan set to return to rugby-focused training soon.
“Really good,” said Jones about Morgan’s recovery. “We caught up on our long-term injured players this morning.
“He’s tracking really well. We’re hopefully going to see him around some rugby in the next few weeks, with some skills and teams stuff.
“That’s promising. But again, he’s got to hit his markers and make sure we don’t expose him too soon.
“But S&C, medical and Jac are doing a great job in getting him back. Fingers crossed we’ll be seeing Jac in the not-too-distant future.”
When asked about his Six Nations hopes, Jones added: “I can’t tell you he can play in the Six Nations.
“He’s still a bit too far away to make those kind of judgements. But he’s nearly ready to come back to rugby and take part in rugby exercises, rather than the gym.
“There’s a lot that has to happen from the gym to getting the ball back in his hands and clearing rucks. There’s a bit to go, particularly with the shoulder.
“But what’s positive is he’s where we’d expect him to be at this stage. So that definitely puts him in the window of being back in the not-too-distant future.”
Jones also offered an update on another Welsh captain in his ranks, after Dewi Lake was forced off at half-time during last week’s Challenge Cup defeat to Zebre in Italy.
“He’s OK,” he said. “He just took a bang onto his AC joint, which has been grumbling on for a period of time.
“We’d got Lewis Lloyd on the bench. We’ve got so much confidence in Lew and he’s such a great player.
“We just weren’t going to take any risks with Dewi. Knowing what Lew could do for us, we were more than comfortable making that change.
“There won’t be any concerns for Dewi moving forward. He’s fit and available for the weekend.”
Despite the niggly nature of the injury, Jones was confident that Lake wouldn’t need any surgery to sort out the problem later down the line.
“No, it’s just a result of playing in the front-row, smashing into others guys and taking bumps on the shoulder,” he said. “It’s just one of those niggly little injuries that doesn’t quite clear up.
“He’s all good. He’s played a lot of rugby for us and Wales so we just wanted to look after him. We haven’t broken Dewi so it’s good news.”
