Wales star reveals motivating factor ahead of Six Nations opener with France
Wales skipper Jac Morgan and France counterpart Antoine Dupont.
Wales captain and openside flanker Jac Morgan revealed that his side’s preparations are on track for their Six Nations opener against France in Paris on Friday night.
Head coach Warren Gatland and his troops are in a desperate mood ahead of the highly anticipated clash as they have suffered 12 straight Test defeats and last tasted victory at the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France.
They head into their encounter against Les Bleus as overwhelming underdogs and they face a daunting task against their hosts, who have won their last six matches between these sides.
Long losing run against France
Wales‘ last victory in this fixture was registered at the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan when they claimed a narrow 20-19 triumph in a closely contested quarter-final at the global showpiece.
Morgan revealed that Wales will be using all the negativity around their woeful current form and Six Nations chances as motivation ahead of their clash with France.
“We’ve learned from what happened last year and this is now a new competition. We’ve got a lot of experience coming back into the side and we are all looking forward to it,” said Morgan.
“It would be great to prove people wrong as not a lot of people are expecting much from us. We’ve been written off, so that is driving us on as a squad.
“We want to do the best we can and so we’ll be using that siege mentality. Training has gone well, Gats (Gatland) and all the coaches have been great with us, and we are the best we can be.
“We have carried on working hard all week and we’re looking to improve.”
Morgan knows that Wales will have to play out of their skin to cause an upset against their hosts, who are the pre-tournament favourites alongside defending Six Nations champions Ireland.
“We know how dangerous France are and it’s going to be a tough game because they can play some really exciting rugby,” he explained.
‘You never know what can happen until the day’
“They’ve got some excellent players and are a great team, so we’ve got to stick together. This is a tough competition and in international rugby you never know what can happen until the day.
“We’ve spoken as a team about there being a lot of noise outside the squad, so it is on us to keep improving. That’s what keeps driving us on – we just want to keep on challenging ourselves and driving on each other to get better.
“It’s brilliant having experienced players like Josh Adams coming back because he’s been here before and won. A lot of the younger boys are learning from him.”
Les Bleus will be boosted by the presence of their captain Antoine Dupont, who missed last year’s Six Nations to prioritise the Olympic Games in Paris where he won a gold medal with France.
Morgan is aware of the threat which Dupont poses and, apart from his success at the Olympics, he has also helped his club Toulouse to a Top 14 and Investec Champions Cup double.
“He doesn’t have any weaknesses,” said Ospreys star Morgan.
“He’s a superb, dangerous player. He’s great for France and his club. It’s tough to play against him.”
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