Schoolboy Morgan Morse has been handed a first Wales U20s start at the age of just 17 with a tribute from head coach Byron Hayward ringing in his ears.
The Ystalyfera pupil and Ospreys pathway player features at No. 8 against Georgia in the U20 Summer Series in Italy on Thursday (4pm UK time) after crossing for a try against Scotland.
“He is the youngest in the squad by a mile but he never fails to impress and surprise us,” said Hayward.
“We brought him out here as a seven. He may be a quiet lad but he is a very intelligent rugby player. For his age, I don’t think I have ever seen anyone so professional. He forces us to select him — his work rate off the ball is phenomenal.”
Read more: 'Who the hell is that kid?' Wales pick youngster with so much potential
The selection for the game in Treviso is the latest evidence of how highly Morse is rated in age-grade rugby. You can read more about his rugby journey here.
Coaches have sung his praises at every level he has played so far and he has the knack of impacting matches. Against Scotland, he came off the bench to peel around the front of the line-out and score, while he was lively as a carrier and hard-working in defence.
He also has ambitions, telling the Welsh Rugby Union’s website this week: “I want to go to the top of the game. I want to be a professional player and my dream has always been to play for the Lions.”
If such an aim is likely to be a long-term project, it doesn’t hurt to have goals.
Nor is it a bad thing to have players to look up to. “I started watching rugby from a young age and then I saw players like Sam Warburton playing for Wales. He is one of my heroes and he played in a similar position to me,” said Morse.
Hayward has made three changes to the starting line-up that helped secure a 45-15 win over Scotland.
Exeter Chiefs’ Oli Burrows takes over at hooker with Efan Daniel rotating to the bench while Morse starts after four appearances from the bench, with Benji Williams named among the replacements.
The only change in the backs sees Morgan Lloyd replace his injured Dragons teammate, Che Hope. Ospreys’ Rhodri Lewis shadows Lloyd at scrum-half and will win his first cap is pressed into service off the bench, with his regional colleague Ben Williams also in line for a first cap.
“We felt the boys did a really good job for 50 minutes or so against Scotland and it allowed us to give the 26 players opportunities that I didn’t think we would be able to before the game,” said Hayward.
“We managed to look after a few of our front-line starters and give some boys game time which I wasn’t really expecting beforehand, so it is a vote of confidence really because the boys did the job,” said Hayward.
“Oli and Efan have different roles this week. They are both top quality players and it’s a case of horses for courses. Georgia are going to be really confrontational and while Efan could match that confrontation, the energy he can bring coming off the bench gives us an extra dimension — those two players are good assets to have and we are blessed to have them.”
Wales scored seven tries against Scotland but the coaches were disappointed with the team’s discipline.
“We need a massive improvement in this game,” said Hayward.
“In the second half we gave away seven penalties on the trot and had 17 in total. That’s been addressed in our review and the boys are aware of it. Giving away that number of penalties is unacceptable at any level.
"At the end of the day, we want to do well in this tournament, but we won’t if we give 17 penalties away.”
Wales U20: Cameron Winnett (Cardiff Rugby); Oli Andrew (Dragons), Mason Grady (Cardiff Rugby), Joe Hawkins (capt, Ospreys), Harri Houston (Ospreys); Dan Edwards (Ospreys), Morgan Lloyd (Dragons); Rhys Barratt (Cardiff Rugby), Oli Burrows (Exeter Chiefs), Nathan Evans (Cardiff Rugby), Christ Tshiunza (Exeter Chiefs), Dafydd Jenkins (Exeter Chiefs), Ryan Woodman (Dragons), Ethan Fackrell (Cardiff Rugby), Morgan Morse (Ospreys).
Replacements: Efan Daniel (Cardiff Rugby), Cameron Jones (Ospreys), Adam Williams (Dragons), Mackenzie Martin (Cardiff Rugby), Benji Williams (Ospreys), Rhodri Lewis (Ospreys), Josh Phillips (Scarlets), Bryn Bradley (Harlequins), Joe Westwood (Dragons), Iestyn Hopkins (Ospreys), Ben Williams (Ospreys/Aberavon).
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