The 22-year-old Bristol-born back row said he had thought ‘long and hard’ about his decision after both England and Wales had followed the rising star’s impressive progress since he joined the west Wales region in May 2009.
Later this month, Morgan qualifies for Wales on residency, however for the England born and bred forward, the heart ruled the head.
In a statement released via his region, Morgan said: “I feel privileged and honoured that both Wales and England have been following me. It has taken me a while to think over and discuss with my family before I came to the decision of where I’d like to focus my ambitions for the future.
“But I’m English, I grew up supporting England and as a youngster I always dreamt of playing for England one day. Ultimately, if given the opportunity at international level, I want to try and take things forward with my home country.
“It’s not about where I see myself in any squad but about putting my name forward and keeping my head down and playing. If I am lucky to be named in any England squad then fantastic but if not then I will knuckle down and work hard to get myself in a position where I will be. Right now it’s about focusing on my rugby and putting my all in to my career with the Scarlets with some big league and European fixtures ahead of us this month.”
Morgan, started his career at Dursley in Gloucestershire before joining Merythr Tydfil and played for Cardiff Blues U20 before signing for Scarlets.
The powerful No 8 paid tribute to his region for accelerating his career and future ambitions: “I am thoroughly enjoying my rugby in west Wales and the opportunities, development and experience I’ve been handed over the past two seasons by the Scarlets is something I am very grateful for.
“I wouldn’t even be talking about this if it hadn’t been for them giving me a chance. I joined them three seasons ago, the environment at Parc Y Scarlets from a training, coaching and conditioning point of view, has really helped my game as well as my shape and fitness. I owe a lot of thanks to the first-class conditioning staff of Brad Harrington and Ryan Campbell, who have worked tirelessly for the first two years to get me into a position where I’m really competing on the field.”
Nigel Davies, Head of Rugby at the Scarlets said: “While we’ve known interest has been shown in Ben by Wales as well as England following a run of strong and eye-catching performances for us, it’s a personal decision – and nobody can question Ben for setting his sights on the pride and dream of playing for his home country of England.
“We fully support him on his decision and if he makes it into the England squad in the future, he will have our complete backing as do all our current internationals when they play for their country.”
