'Special player' shows what Wales have missed nearly 400 days since last Test

Ospreys coach Toby Booth dubbed his captain Jac Morgan a 'special player' as the back-row showed Wales exactly what they've been missing for the past 12 months.

By the time Wales take on Fiji next month in their opening autumn fixture, it will have been over a year since Morgan last pulled on the red jersey - having skippered his country in their uncapped win over the Barbarians last November.

That appearance had capped a fine few months for the Ospreys flanker, having been magnificent as Wales' captain during the World Cup in France.

However, since then, injuries have kept him from adding to his 15 caps, with Dafydd Jenkins and Dewi Lake leading the side in his absence. Even with Morgan back for the autumn, Lake continues as Wales captain next month - with the hooker seemingly now the long-term option for the role.

But regardless of whether he's captain or not, Morgan - having started five out of the Ospreys' first six matches of the season - demonstrated exactly what Wales have missed since his last Test outing for Wales against Argentina in Marseille 380 days ago.

By the time the Fiji game rolls around, it'll be closer to 400 days without Test rugby for Morgan. But, in his final opportunity before the visit of the Flying Fijians on November 10, Morgan captured the eye on the blindside flank for the Ospreys.

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Morgan was named player of the match during the Ospreys' win over Edinburgh in Bridgend on Saturday - with the 24-year-old to the fore as Booth's side found a much-needed victory to end a tricky first block of United Rugby Championship fixtures.

On his way to the individual award, Morgan made 18 tackles - including one on Duhan van der Merwe that saw Morgan carry the Scotland and Lions wing back like a rag doll - while he also made 13 carries and won three turnovers.

“He is an incredible player, he leads by example," said Booth of Morgan afterwards. "You saw from the get-go, he was driving people backwards in the collisions, ball-carrying relentlessly, getting off the floor. He is a special player.”

As for the victory, Booth said: “We are very relieved. Block one obviously hasn’t gone as we would have liked and we have probably underperformed.

“We went back to basics this week. We started much better, built into the game and then it got into an arm wrestle and we are pretty good at an arm wrestle in Bridgend.

“We go well here, we like the proximity to the pitch, we like the crowd atmosphere, we just do well here. Bridgend is good for us.”