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'Clueless': Pivac's Wales squad slammed over omission of URC's turnover machine
By Sam Smith
Wayne Pivac named his 33-man squad for Wales’ upcoming tour of South Africa which has not gone down well with Welsh fans on Twitter.
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The contentious decision was the exclusion of 23-year-old Jac Morgan who has been one of the standout No 7s in the United Rugby Championship. The Kiwi head coach selected Taine Basham, Josh Navidi, and the uncapped Tommy Reffell as his options at openside flankers and excluded the Ospreys’ openside.
However, it was Pivac’s explanation for the omission that has drawn the ire of Welsh fans as he suggested Morgan needed to bulk up and work on his ‘physicality over the ball’ despite being one of the leaders at winning turnovers in the URC.
“I had a good chat to Jac around what we want him to do in the off-season and that’s a big work-on in terms of what he can do in the strength and conditioning area,” Pivac said of the decision.
“The game’s a really physical game. Where we’re going, South Africa, there are a lot of very big men. We’ve asked him to improve, if he can, in that area of physicality when he’s over the ball, being even stronger than he is.
“He’ll go away and work hard at his game, I know that. He’s a young guy and he’s desperate to get back into the side. It’s all ahead of him.”
Jac Morgan current stats in the URC
186 tackles (2nd)
94% tackle completion
22 turn overs (1st)But yeah, needs to get bigger and stronger.
— Jon Ingarfield (@JonIngarfield) May 18, 2022
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Many fans believed Leicester Tigers openside Tommy Reffell was deserving of his call-up, and so made comparisons between Jac Morgan and Taine Basham who are of a similar size.
Josh Gardner highlighted that Morgan has the most turnovers in the URC while Basham ranks 46th in the competition.
Pivac was labelled a ‘charlatan’ by another Welsh fan who suggested the coach might be in his last season as the national head coach.
For me, the most notable omissions from the Wales squad for the tour of South Africa would be:
Morgan Morris, Seb Davies, Jac Morgan, Ryan Conbeer, Jonathan Davies, Callum Sheedy, Bradley Roberts, Owen Lane. Anyone else spring to mind?— Simon Thomas (@simonrug) May 18, 2022
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An…interesting Wales squad to tour South Africa. Good to see Tommy Reffell called up. Been tearing it up at Leicester but it’s hard on Jac Morgan given how great he’s been for the Ospreys. Tough call that one. Surprising to see 34-year-old Dan Lydiate in the squad though.
— Jamie Phillips (@JNPhillips4) May 18, 2022
Pivac tells Jac Morgan (5'11/102kg/most turnovers in the URC this season) that he's too small and not good enough over the ball to play openside in SA, but continues to pick Taine Basham (6'0/95kg/joint 46th in turnovers in the URC) without hesitation.
— Josh Gardner (@joshgardner) May 18, 2022
I think Pivac has broken Twitter and the nation by not picking Jac Morgan 🤦🏼♂️
— Aled James (@Aled_James9) May 18, 2022
Never been a fan of coaches calling out players’ perceived weakness in public. It betrays coaches’ weakness – the inability to take responsibility for their own shortcomings. Jac Morgan is a tremendous player and deserves better. Pivac is a charlatan in the last chance saloon https://t.co/oOk7NKj79a
— Dan 🏴🇪🇺🚴♂️ (@eggynewydd) May 18, 2022
Top Welsh tackler and won more turnovers than anyone else, but must get stronger in that area? And regularly plays against SA teams in the URC, is he taking the piss? Jac Morgan has been outstanding this season! Form 7 in Wales! Pivac is absolutely clueless! https://t.co/vIn9ILmcmN
— Llion Rhys (@LlionRhys2) May 18, 2022
The harshest reaction came from journalist Siân Lloyd who said the squad shows ‘zero ambition’, was ‘clueless’ and asked ‘does Pivac actually understand rugby?’
Does #Pivac actually understand rugby? This squad shows zero ambition & no forward planning. Clueless. As for his #JacMorgan comments, just bollocks, as the stats show. Are @WelshRugbyUnion really going to let him take us into @rugbyworldcup I could do a better job myself!
— Siân Lloyd (@SianWeather) May 18, 2022
In terms of Wayne Pivac's comments about Jac Morgan needing to improve his physicality over the ball, it is worth noting that the Ospreys flanker is top of the turnover chart in the @URCOfficial with 22 of them.
— Simon Thomas (@simonrug) May 18, 2022
Welsh rugby writer Owain Jones highlighted the history of Wales in South Africa which has not been great, and suggested that expectations are now so low that the side might just surprise some people.
Wales have played the Boks on ten occasions out South Africa. They've lost all ten. Points for the Boks 415. Points for Wales 156.
Predicting a tough Wales tour is not exactly revelatory.
Heaven knows, Wales might actually surprise some people.
— Owain Jones (@OwainJTJones) May 18, 2022
Expect this side to give the Boks a whupping at Loftus Versfeld.🧐
Liam Williams, Josh Adams, George North, Nick Tompkins, Louis Rees-Zammit, Dan Biggar, Tomos Williams; Taulupe Faletau, Josh Navidi, Dan Lydiate, AWJ, Adam Beard, Tomas Francis, Dewi Lake, Rhys Carre
Don't @ me
— Owain Jones (@OwainJTJones) May 18, 2022
I'd have loved to see him play against the Boks, with stats like that you simply can't ignore a player. He may well feature if there are injuries...