With the Six Nations just a matter of weeks away, Warren Gatland will be spending a large chunk of his Christmas putting plans in place to drag Wales back out of the doldrums once again.
At the top of his list will be whether to chop and change the backroom staff he has inherited from Wayne Pivac, but Gatland will also ponder the captaincy.
Every successful international side has a strong leader, someone who can galvanise his team-mates especially when the chips are down.
Leadership is a talent which Gatland views with the utmost importance and the Wales coach has a knack of getting the big decisions right.
Steffan Thomas runs the rule over the contenders to captain Wales at next year's Rugby World Cup in France.
Dan Biggar
Toulon playmaker Biggar was former coach Wayne Pivac's preferred choice as captain before injury ruled him out of the Autumn Nations Series. The 33-year-old is extremely vocal on the field of play and is one of the toughest characters in the game.
Biggar commands the respect of his team-mates and was Gatland's first choice number 10 during last summer's Lions tour of South Africa. He also has a habit of influencing refereeing decisions while he is one of those players who thrives under the most intense pressure.
What might count against him is the fact he now plies his trade for Toulon in the French Top 14. There's no doubt Biggar will be a resounding success on the Cote D'Azur but it also means he will be unavailable for a large chunk of Wales' training camps leading into the Six Nations while he will also have to return to France during the fallow weekends.
It is far from ideal to have your captain fly back and forth between Wales and France in the middle of a vitally important Six Nations campaign. He's a tremendous captain, but his club situation that could count against him.
Justin Tipuric
The 89 times capped openside is the incumbent having captained Wales during their recent a campaign. All action openside Tipuric is unplayable when at his best and is a player who leads by his actions rather than his words. He has the experience for the role and, in a similar fashion to Biggar, is someone who can drag any side he plays for out of the deepest of holes.
The 33-year-old would be the secure bet for Gatland given he will be available, injury permitting, for the whole Six Nations, and is heavily respected by his team-mates.
It's not a stretch to label Tipuric one of the most complete players in the world, let alone European rugby, yet as outrageous as this sounds he isn't guaranteed his place in Gatland's side. Sure, he ended the first Gatland era as an automatic selection but Wales' recent woes at the breakdown might force the New Zealander to look for an ultra-physical breakdown specialist in the Sam Warburton mould to wear the number seven shirt.
Gatland may want to take a fresh approach.
Alun Wyn Jones
It would be remiss of us not to mention arguably Wales' greatest captain as a contender. Even at the grand old age of 37 Jones remains the driving force of the Wales squad. He is a natural leader of men and is cut from the same cloth as the likes of the legendary Ireland and Lions captain Willie John McBryde and England's 2003 World Cup skipper Martin Johnson.
There is no more experienced player in the game than Jones who has played 167 Test matches since making his test debut way back in 2006. If his recent performance against Australia is anything to go by then Jones can still cut it as a player at the highest level.
But given his position as one of the elder statesmen of this squad Gatland may view handing the captaincy to the Ospreys man a backwards step. If Jones is to make the World Cup he will need to be managed carefully and that means not playing every game.
While every squad has a captain it is important to have a number of background support in the same way Johnson had the likes of Richard Hill, Lawrence Dallaligio, Jason Leonard, and Johnny Wilkinson backing him up when England lifted the Webb-Ellis Cup. With that in mind Jones is now part of the supporting cast with his position as the main leader a thing of the past.
Adam Beard
Ospreys lock Beard is a man who Gatland holds in high regard. When Gatland was asked why he selected the Swansea man to start against Australia back in November 2018 he said: “Well, you can’t coach someone to be 6ft 10 and 20st - that helps for a start."
Gatland puts a lot of emphasis on size and physicality with Beard ticking those boxes. He was an integral part of the Wales side which achieved a Six Nations clean sweep in 2019 and Gatland enraged Ireland fans in 2021 when he called Beard into his Lions squad ahead of Leinster second-row James Ryan.
Under Pivac he was lineout captain and has captained the Ospreys on several occasions. Beard is a player who has been groomed for captaincy and while he may not make the headlines, he leads by example on the field and is very comfortable dealing with the Press.
Is likely to be part of Gatland's leadership group and is surely a contender for the captaincy.
Jac Morgan
More than a few eyebrows will be raised with this selection but Morgan ticks most of the boxes Gatland will be looking for.
While he can't compete with the likes of Justin Tipuric, Alun Wyn Jones, and Dan Biggar when it comes to experience there is just something special about the Ospreys man. If you cast your mind back to 2011 Sam Warburton became the youngest player to captain his country in the Rugby World Cup at the age of 22. It proved to be a masterstroke by Gatland who plumped for the youthful exuberance of Warburton over the more experienced Ryan Jones.
Who is to say he won't do the same this time around as he looks to put his own stamp upon the team again?
Tipuric, Jones, and Biggar are strong options but it all feels a bit stale. Gatland will inherit a squad which is desperately in need of fresh blood and the selection of Morgan as captain could be the injection of new energy Wales need.
What goes against Morgan is the outrageous strength in depth Gatland has at his disposal in the back-row, with hot competition for places, but the man from Brynamman is similar in style to Warburton. He's extremely strong over the ball when it comes to the breakdown, is a dynamic carrier and ferocious in defence.
The breakdown is an area which Gatland has to fix as a matter of urgency and this is where the 22-year-old excels on weekly basis. He has also captained Wales U20s in the past and is someone Gatland could build a side around for the next decade.
Don't rule this one out.
Worth a mention
There are of course others who Gatland may consider. Dragons second-row Will Rowlands could be a candidate but as it stands is ineligible to represent Wales at the World Cup given he has signed for French club Racing 92 and falls well short of 60 caps.
Ospreys hooker Dewi Lake has already been described by former dual-code international Jonathan Davies as a future Wales captain and he is another who Gatland will want to push through, while the more experienced Ken Owens could also be considered.
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