He has been compared with two of European rugby’s biggest hitters over the past decade, but Morgan Morris seemingly has still to register on Wayne Pivac’s radar screen as the back-row forward hits a personal milestone this weekend.
The 23-year-old will make his 50th Ospreys appearance when they face the Lions in Johannesburg on Friday (5pm kick-off UK time). For most of those games, Morris has been outstanding, earning a comparison with a young Sean O’Brien from the region’s development boss Mike Ruddock because of his ability to bump off tackles and being likened to ex-European player of the year Steffon Armitage by head coach Toby Booth. You can read more about those comparisons here.
But Morris has yet to attract Pivac’s attention despite the Wales coach handing 15 other back-row players starts since he took over after the last World Cup.
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Versatile enough to play across the back row, the former Swansea player will take the field against the Lions at openside in a ‘same again’ selection from Booth after the win over Zebre last time out. The United Rugby Championship match will also be notable for the Welsh team’s prop Tom Botha as he plays again in his homeland of South Africa. The stolid tighthead has been preparing for the game in the familiar surroundings of the Western Cape, where he was brought up.
“It’s brilliant being back, especially with our training base being back in my hometown,” he said this week. “It’s special in that the training field we are using to prepare is my old school field, so there are a lot of memories.”
No European team has won on South African territory in the United Rugby Championship, so there is the chance for the Ospreys to make history. But they can expect to be tested, with both Cardiff and Munster having fallen to the Lions in recent weeks.
“We see it as an opportunity but it’s always tough playing away from home — nothing changes," the No. 3 said. "The first thing we have to do is focus on ourselves." Strong scrummager Botha is now eligible for Wales but he insists his first priority is to his region. "I’m just focused on the Ospreys. We want to push on and be the best team in Wales and qualify for the Champions Cup. I just want to be the best player I can be for the team. Our forwards coach Duncan Jones works with me every week and that’s a good journey for me as I learn off him."
Rhys Webb captains the side from scrum-half.
Ospreys head coach Booth said: "Not one northern hemisphere side has won in South Africa in the URC, so that gives you the magnitude of the competition on this side of the world. We know this is a tough challenge but it is one we are looking forward to. It’s not often you can get a first and if we could become the first team to win here in the URC that would be great. The Lions start all of their games very well and score lots of their tries in the first 20 minutes of games and try to get on top of you that way. We need to make sure we are ready for that onslaught."
Emirates Lions: 15 Quan Horn; 14 Rabz Maxwane, 13 Wandisile Simelane, 12 Burger Odendaal, 11 Edwill van der Merwe; 10 Jordan Hendrikse, 9 Morne van den Berg; 1 Sti Sithole, 2 Jaco Visagie, 3. Carlu Sadie/Ruan Dreyer, 4. Ruben Schoeman, 5 Reinhard Nothnagel, Francke Horn, Vincent Tshituka, 8 Emmanuel Tshituka.
Replacements: 16 PJ Botha, 17 JP Smith, 18 Ruan Dreyer/Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 19 Ruan Venter, 20 Sibusiso Sangweni, 21 Andre Warner, 22 Manuel Rass, 23 Tiaan Swanepoel.
Ospreys: 15. Dan Evans; 14. Keelan Giles, 13. Michael Collins, 12. Keiran Williams, 11. Luke Morgan; 10. Stephen Myler, 9. Rhys Webb (capt); 1. Nicky Smith, 2 Sam Parry, 3. Tom Botha, 4. Rhys Davies, 5. Bradley Davies, 6. Dan Lydiate, 7. Morgan Morris, 8. Ethan Roots.
Replacements: 16. Scott Baldwin, 17. Rhodri Jones, 18. Rhys Henry, 19. Will Griffiths, 20. Harri Deaves, 21. Reuben Morgan-Williams, 22. Tiaan Thomas Wheeler, 23. Cai Evans.
