Men of Influence magazine


Morgan played with the son of former Wales scrum-half and captain Robert Jones in his junior years.

“I knew Jac from an early age, he played with my son Tiaan up in Cwmtwrch and went through all the ages as a small back row at the time,” added Jones.

“Even at a young age, you could tell he was a talented and committed individual who had great tackle technique and was fantastic over the ball.

“The stand out thing was his ability to read the game and his leadership.”

Morgan went onto play with Amman United youth and had a few games for home village Brynamman in 2018 after finishing the Under-18s Six Nations.

“We are over the moon somebody else from the village will play for Wales,” said Andrew Roberts, Brynamman RFC club secretary and director.

“We have known for years he had the attributes and skills to make the top level.

“For it to happen is a wonderful achievement for him and the village. We will have a large screen in the club on Saturday.

“It is going to be our 125th anniversary at the start of next season and he will be only the fourth player to have a full Wales cap.

“The others are Jac Elwyn Evans in 1924 and Denzil Thomas and Clem Thomas in the 1950s.

“We have also adopted Shane Williams as a Brynamman boy on account his father comes from the village.”

As a 17-year-old, Morgan also made plans for life outside of rugby by enrolling on a mechanical engineering apprenticeship course.

Morgan was in and out of the Scarlets academy system and also signed for Aberavon in 2018 as he was released to play as a semi-professional for the Wizards in the Premiership, a move which helped kick-start his career.

“We sat down with Jac and his Dad and outlined what we thought we could do to aid his development and wish of becoming a professional rugby player,” said Aberavon head coach Jason Hyatt.

“When he joined us it was roughly August, his attitude was phenomenal. That was what impressed me, when we met him he was 18 and it wasn’t so much what Aberavon could do for him, the one question Jac had for us was what could he do to improve us.

“The amount of time he played then up to Christmas was impressive, he played more than 1,000 minutes of rugby, and he was picked up by Wales Under-20s and ultimately earned him a contract back with the Scarlets.

“His biggest asset, as well as his superb talent, is his ability to bring the best out of everyone around him.

“We’ll be over the moon (when he plays for Wales) and proud we played a small part in Jac’s development.”



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