'Bossy' young fly-half turns heads among fellow players in front of Wales selectors
For the trio of Wales' coaches huddled around a bench at the back of the Arms Park's South Stand, the New Year's Day clash between Cardiff and Ospreys could hardly be classed as a vintage when it came to pre-Six Nations scouting missions.
The 13-13 draw in the Welsh capital was one for the purists, with the flow of the match - or lack of it - ultimately dictated by the frequency of referee Ben Breakspear's whistle.
For Rob Howley, Alex King and Gareth Williams, there were flashes of inspiration amongst the stoppages and cards. Ospreys second-row Rhys Davies was physical throughout on his first appearance for nine months, while opposite number Teddy Williams did his Test chances no harm.
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Jac Morgan being superb won't have come as a surprise to any of the coaches - or anyone, for that matter - in attendance. However, perhaps the player who would have impressed the most was Ospreys fly-half Dan Edwards.
The 21-year-old from Port Talbot was responsible for all of the Ospreys' points in Cardiff, helping them navigate the first-half red card of young second-row James Fender.
Beyond a couple of penalties, there was also a fine solo try which he then converted. Taking a pull-back pass from Keiran Williams, there appeared to be little on for Edwards, but, stepping away from Rory Jennings, he caught Callum Sheedy and Dan Thomas a little flat-footed - bursting through a half-gap to round Josh Adams and score.
It was the sort of score that would have infuriated Cardiff defence coach Gethin Jenkins in the home coaching box, but you couldn't fault Edwards' eye for the gap - with his surprising burst of pace again catching the defence off-guard.
In the first-half, he had shown similar pace to show up in support of Reuben Morgan-Williams after the scrum-half had broken from deep, nearly creating the opening score for the Ospreys.
Having broken through against the Scarlets in late 2023 with a try demonstrating similar speed, he enjoyed a strong 2024 with some memorable highlights - including a late match-winning drop-goal against Ulster last season and tries against South African opposition in the Stormers and Lions during this campaign.
Having established himself as the Ospreys' first-choice 10, Wales seems the next logical step in the young playmaker's career progression. Edwards would have trained with Wales in the autumn, only for injury to deny him the opportunity.
In front of Howley, King and Williams, he might just have done enough to justify his place in the proper squad when it's announced in under a fortnight.
As well as accounting for all of the Ospreys' points, Edwards also had to cover full-back in the second-half - after Max Nagy was sacrificed for second-row James Ratti following Fender's dismissal.
"That's part of the decision-making," said Ospreys head coach Mark Jones afterwards. "You've got to put your young 10 in the backfield for large parts of the half, while also asking him to control the game.
"All the half-backs on the field, at different times, did a good job of that. The forwards set the platform."
Of course, that relationship is symbiotic. The Ospreys pack provided the platform, but Edwards put them in the right positions throughout.
On an afternoon where both sides felt they could and should have come away with more, the Ospreys certainly had their chances with a series of attacking lineouts in touching distance of the Cardiff line in the first-half.
And it was Edwards' boot - with the fly-half continuously going for double top, to borrow some darting parlance, with his touch-finders - that put them so close to the try line.
It didn't always pay off, with one penalty going dead as he rolled the dice, but on the whole, it was a sign of the young outside-half's confidence - something his team-mates have picked up on and been impressed by.
"It's brilliant to see," said Wales prop Gareth Thomas. "He's got a bit of confidence about him.
"I love playing with him. He doesn't care who you are, he's bossing you around and telling you what to do.
"I love his confidence. It makes our job easy, putting us in those positions, it gives us a bit of a boost."
