Having been restricted to two appearances for the Scarlets this season, the former Dragons centre jumped at the chance to play a part in Richie Pugh’s plans ahead of this weekend’s Toulouse leg on the HSBC World Rugby Sevens series.
“My agent gave me a call and said he had spoken to Pughie, he said they were interested in getting me involved – obviously I haven’t played much rugby this year so thought it was a good opportunity to get down here and try something new and get some rugby under my belt,” explained Morgan.
“The first week was a lot of finding my feet, just listening learning and trying to find some lungs as well.
“The second week I feel I’ve grown into it a little bit more. I think I know what I’m doing better now but there’s still lots to learn, more than I thought it would be – sevens is a completely different game to be honest but I’m slowly getting there.”
Capped five times by Wales, Morgan admitted the nuances of the abbreviated form of game took him by surprise when he first met up with Pugh’s squad at the National Centre of Excellence last week.
“It’s evident to see there is a load more space – in fact, a lot more space – I came into it thinking just get the ball in your hands and attack, pass and off-load but there’s a lot more tactics you need to know.
“I’m avoiding the set piece to be honest – I’ve never been a lineout specialist and don’t think I ever will be so chuck me out the backs where I think it will be a little less complicated – so, yeah there is a hell of a lot to learn.”
Despite being a rookie in terms of sevens, Morgan believes he still has plenty to offer himself within his new team dynamic.
“I’ve got quite a bit of experience now from quite a few big games. There are a lot of young boys in a young squad here that probably sometimes need a bit of guidance in the right direction.
“If I can just make sure things stay calm on the field then I think I can bring that and then hopefully just a bit of attacking ability along with a bit of defensive know-how. Being the centre, you’re usually kind of the leader in the defensive area as well.”
Still only 26 years of age, Morgan made his Wales debut against Ireland in 2015 so seems to have been around forever, but he sees the next couple of weeks on the sevens circuit in Toulouse and Twickenham as the next steps of his career.
“I was fortunate to have played very early at the Dragons and got the opportunity at a young age. As well as Hallam [Amos] and Jack [Dixon] and a lot of other boys played very young so I’ve got a few miles on the clock,” he said.
With no shortage of sevens experience within the Welsh squad, the likes of Luke Treharne, Tom Williams and Morgan Williams have proved an invaluable source of information for the rookie.
“They’ve been guiding me through to be honest. There’s a great group of blokes here and they know a lot more than I do and now I’m just living off them, they’re pointing me in the right direction – I try and offer my input, but I’ve got so much to learn from them,” admitted Morgan.
Another new experience for Morgan will be the eight hour wait between Wales’ opening game against France and their second pool game at 10.30pm against perennial tournament favourites Fiji.
Tyler Morgan passes the ball during a training session with Wales 7s
“Chucked right in the at deep end there I guess,” said Morgan ruefully, before adding “there is no better team to test yourself than against Fiji. France on their home ground is going to be exciting and the Kenyans have come a long way – we’ve had a good prep for the last two weeks so hopefully we can do well.
“The first day’s gonna be different for me – playing at 10.30 at night is alien to me but I’m excited just to get on the field now and hopefully these last two weeks have paid off.
“It’s going to be a big two weeks for us as Twickenham is a big tournament and pretty close to a home crowd and there’s normally a good bunch of fans in.”
Wales also have the small matter of the Commonwealth Games to think about, but that isn’t on Morgan’s radar – just yet.
“Thinking about that is way too soon, I haven’t that conversation. I’ve had a long season and I do need some time off at the end of it before I think about next year but you never know what may happen.”
In the short term, Morgan is eager just to get on the green stuff and play some rugby.
“The only reason I play the game is to be on the field,” he said. “All the training and gym work during the week is tough but the enjoyment actually comes on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday and to be deprived of that this year has been difficult so I’m very excited to play in front of a crowd and play some rugby.”
