The Jac Morgan comment that hints at the issues during Warren Gatland’s tenure
Jac Morgan in action for Wales in the 2025 Six Nations
Captain Jac Morgan has hinted at a major issue that plagued Wales under ex-coach Warren Gatland, citing a ‘clear plan’ in attack under Matt Sherratt.
The Cardiff boss, who has now taken the reins as attack coach as well, replaced the iconic Gatland as interim Wales boss following his departure two weeks ago and nearly led them to a shock win over Ireland in round three of the Six Nations.
Jac Morgan hints at attacking woes under Gatland
Gatland’s second tenure had been clouded by poor performances, with Wales losing 14 consecutive Tests before his departure earlier this month, and skipper Morgan has offered a damning comment on the reasons behind it.
“It was good to have a clear plan in attack (against Ireland),” Morgan said. “It felt a bit different and the boys were excited.”
His comments also come following a dramatic change to their back-line by interim boss Sherratt. Max Llewellyn, Gareth Anscombe and Jarrod Evans all returned to the fold despite being omitted by Gatland at the start of the Championship, and around that Ben Thomas also shifted back to his more familiar role of 12 after starting at fly-half against France and Italy.
As a result of Sherratt’s changes, both in personnel and clearly in structure too following these comments from Morgan, Wales nearly secured a thrilling victory over title-chasing Ireland. At one point, Sherratt’s side were ahead 18-10 and had Ireland under the pump, but Simon Easterby’s side eventually clawed their way back into the game to win 27-18.
Strong foundations
A few weeks ago, the possibility of even leading against Ireland was a distant dream, but it seems they have now built some strong foundations to improve from, and Morgan is hoping they can do exactly that.
“We’re just looking forward to building on what we’ve learned,” the captain said.
“We’ll review the game and learn from it. Then we’ll get back training and keep on improving and implementing that style of attack.”