Having started for Wales in a World Cup quarter-final, Tyler Morgan now finds himself without a club. During the seven years that have passed since that huge 2015 showdown with South Africa at Twickenham, he has been through some very challenging times, amid injury and illness.
Then, come the end of last season, he was released by the Scarlets, leaving him facing an uncertain and anxious future. But you don’t find the five-times capped centre feeling sorry for himself. Far from it in fact. Instead, he is relishing representing his country again, having just been named in the Wales Sevens squad for the Commonwealth Games.
When we catch up for a chat, our conversation soon turns to that day in October 2015 when he lined up against the mighty Springboks, having only just turned 20 a few weeks earlier.
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He had been called up to the Wales World Cup squad as a replacement for the hamstrung Cory Allen and started at No 13 in the group match against Fiji at the Millennium Stadium. With Scott Williams having joined a midfield injury list that had already seen Jonathan Davies ruled out pre-tournament, it was Morgan who was handed the job of starting alongside Jamie Roberts versus the ‘Boks in just his third Test outing.
Looking back, it was some team he was facing in that last eight clash, with the likes of Bryan Habana, Fourie du Preeze, Schalk Burger, Damian de Allende, Willie le Roux and Duane Vermeulen in the opposition ranks. But the Dragons youngster rose to the occasion, performing well before he too was hit by the centre curse, dislocating his shoulder in the final quarter. One wonders how he reflects on that whole World Cup experience today?
“It feels a long time ago. I was only 19 when I was called up, so I don’t think I took it all in. I struggle to remember a lot of it because it all happened so quickly. I do kind of wish I had taken it in a bit more. I was young and naive when I was there and probably should taken more pictures and tried to remember a lot more of it.
“With that South Africa match, I don’t think I understood the situation. People still talk about it now, but it was just another game to me back then. I didn’t really read much into it. I just went out and played.
“So, yes, it does seem like a long time ago. I feel like I have played a lot of rugby since and been around for a long while and experienced a lot of things. But my fondest memories from the game are still that World Cup.”
The Newport-born Morgan went on to win a couple more caps, with the last of his five to date coming against Tonga in Cardiff in November 2018, but his progress was stalled by misfortune on the fitness front.
“There was a period of two or three years when I was in the international frame where I was just getting injured a lot. You could see the goal was quite close but it just kept getting snatched away from me which was tough. But then you kind of learn with age that it is just a game and you have more important things to worry about. Then obviously there was the illness as well, which was a bit of a knock back.”
It was in May 2018, aged just 22, that Morgan was diagnosed with diabetes.
“I had been out for the best part of a year with injuries to my ankle and my foot and I just didn’t feel very healthy, I suppose. I was trying to come back from the second injury and spending a lot of time in the gym, when you would expect to stack on weight and stack on strength.
“But that just wasn’t happening. I was losing weight and I was getting weaker. I was thinking that’s just not right, not normal, considering my programme was right and my diet was right. Then I started getting the symptoms of frequent urination and dehydration.
“Weirdly, I remember Hallam Amos was speaking about the symptoms of diabetes to one of his mates and I just overheard the conversation and the symptoms resonated with me. So I went to see the team doctor and he sent me for a test. I got diagnosed that day and went into hospital overnight. They sorted all my sugars and hydration levels out and I got sent home with my medicine and a guide of how to do it all.
"It was a big change to my lifestyle. I had to adjust my diet and make sure I was a lot more strict with everything in preparation. Luckily, being in professional sport, you are quite good at being strict with your diet and your preparation, so it did come second nature to me.”
As for how the condition impacts upon his life, he says: “Obviously there are a lot of factors you have got to deal with. When different stresses come into the situation, your sugars can become a bit uncontrollable and adrenaline affects it massively.
“But you have just got to take it all with a pinch of salt. Some days you are going to get it right, some days you are going to get it wrong and some days you can’t control why it’s wrong. It’s not the end of the world. You usually do have a lot more good days than bad days with it. It’s just something you’ve got to deal with, As long as I maintain control of it, it doesn’t impact too much on my life, to be honest.”
After seven years and 89 appearances with the Dragons, Morgan moved to the Scarlets in 2020. Now, after increasingly limited opportunities, his time down west has come to an end.
“I played a lot in my first season there. The second year obviously didn’t go my way with selection. For the majority of the year, I was fit to play, but it just didn’t go my way. I didn’t have the rub of the green.
“I was lucky my agent was quite proactive in finding out what the situation was, so I knew January/February time that I was going to be released. But that’s only because my agent got involved and was pestering them. Some boys weren’t told until a couple of weeks before the end of the season, which is difficult then.
“I was lucky that Richie Pugh gave me a ring and gave me the opportunity to join the Sevens near the end of the season. So I got a chance to go and play some rugby and I grabbed it with both hands. It was a blessing for me. I am feeling fit and healthy and good to go.”
The shortened version of the game has been quite a new experience for Morgan, who took his World Series bow in Toulouse in May, going on to figure in the London event as well.
“I did one or two tournaments in school in Caerleon but my first real experience of Sevens was Toulouse. That was my first competitive game. What I find is if you make a mistake, you get punished a lot more. In 15s, you have usually got a few boys to cover your mistakes. In Sevens you are quite exposed and if you make one mistake it tends to lead to a try.
"As a centre/wing, you get used to having those one-on-ones in wide areas, so I’ve not been too far out of my comfort zone. But for the next tournaments I have been moved into prop, so I am actually in the forwards now, believe it or not! I am learning lineouts and scrummaging, which is a new world for me. It’s interesting. It’s obviously a new challenge which hopefully I adapt to quite well.”
This weekend, it’s off to Bucharest for World Cup qualifiers and then the focus turns to the Commonwealth Games, with Wales facing group games against Fiji, Canada and Zambia at Coventry Stadium, with the event running from July 29-31.
“Obviously it’s looked at differently to the 15s game, but it’s just as proud an event for me and my family. When I told my old man he was chuffed. It’s exciting for me and I’m enjoying it being back down at the Vale and back in the jersey. It’s brilliant to be fair.”
What the future holds for Morgan beyond this summer remains to be seen.
“I am just playing it by ear and looking at what’s about 15s wise. That’s probably where my future lies. But I am really enjoying my time with the Sevens at the moment. If things do go to plan, I think there is potentially a future there as well, although I don’t really know the details of the contracts. I have had no experience of that.
“I am an open book really. I am a free agent currently. It’s an anxious time, I guess. But it sways both ways. It will figure itself out. I am open to any suggestions really. I have had a look over the border, over the bridge, over the sea and over the other side of the world.
“It’s a tough situation for a lot of players at the moment. If you look at all the boys who are out of contract, you could put together a very decent team from it. It’s a strange situation that so many decent players are out of contract. It means a lot of boys fighting for a very small amount of opportunities, which is difficult. It’s a bad time to be out of contract, but if the timing is against you, it’s against you.”
Being without a club, the Newport-based Morgan is all the more aware of how fortunate you are to make a living out of playing rugby, even though - as in his case - it can be hard with the injuries that are part and parcel of the job.
“Obviously there are times when you get frustrated with it. There have been some days when I’ve gone in and thought it’s tough. But then you realise you are around your mates and all you are doing is going out and chucking a ball around. There’s a lot worse situations you could be in.
"You have just got to give yourself a kick up the arse sometimes and realise how lucky you are to have the job. It can sound bleak at times, but you still get paid for playing rugby for a living, so it’s not too bad.”
So when he puts it all in perspective, with everything that has happened to him since, how does he now look back on his Wales career having begun as a teenager?
“I don’t know if it worked for me or against me going in that young. It was kind of a sink or swim situation. Then the injuries hit and it didn’t go my way.
“You never know in hindsight. If I’d had a year or two just to toughen up the body then it might have lasted longer and more caps might have come my way. But I’m only 26 and I don’t know what the future holds. I could end up back there one day, who knows?”
He concluded: “I’ve never looked back at this job and thought I wished I hadn’t done it. A lot of boys are now sticking round as long as they can because they realise that no matter how hard it gets, it is still a fun job to have and we are lucky to be in it.”
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