And then there were none… Welsh rugby reels from Lions blow

First Test: Australia v British and Irish Lions

Date: Saturday, 19 July Kick-off: 11:00 BST Venue: Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane

If yet another sign was needed to highlight Welsh rugby’s fall from grace, Jac Morgan’s omission from the British and Irish Lions team for Saturday’s first Test against Australia rubs salt into an already hurtful wound.

The Wales captain and Ospreys open-side flanker could not have done much more to press his case with strong performances so far on tour.

But amid arguably the most competitive area coach Andy Farrell has at his disposal, Morgan’s loss represents a deeper blow to Wales’ rugby psyche and heritage.

He began the tour as one of only two Welshmen on the trip and, with scrum-half Tomos Williams an early injury victim, Morgan will now watch from the stands in Brisbane.

Tom Curry has been handed the Lions seven shirt, with two more Englishmen – Ollie Chessum and Ben Earl – providing potential breakaway cover on the bench.

It is a far cry from the Carwyn James-inspired heroics of the 1971 Lions tour to New Zealand, when a side packed with glorious Welsh talent beat the All Blacks in a series for the only time in their history.

That success made lifetime legends out of iconic Wales stars such as Delme Thomas, Derek Quinnell, John Taylor, Mervyn Davies, Gareth Edwards, Barry John, Gerald Davies and JPR Williams.

As recently as 2021, there were six Welshmen in the starting XV including captain Alun Wyn Jones when the Lions lost the final Test against South Africa 19-16 and with it the series. Another, Adam Beard, came off the bench that day.

And in 2013, 10 Welshmen started in the 41-16 rout that earned a 2-1 series win against the Wallabies.

But now there are none at a time when Wales have only just ended an excruciating 18-match losing run and uncertainty again clouds the future of the nation’s professional tier.

Twelve years later, those halcyon days of Welsh rugby – in which their then coach Warren Gatland was feted – are long gone.

Gatland himself became a victim of Wales’ demise when he left the role midway through the 2025 Six Nations to bring an end to his second stint in charge.

The writing was on the wall for Lions selection as Wales continued to navigate new depths on the way to their record losing streak, culminating in Morgan and Williams being the nation’s only entries in Farrell’s pre-tour squad.

Former Wales and Lions three-quarter Dafydd James says the lack of a Welshman in the line-up “says exactly where Welsh rugby is and it’s worrying”.

James, a Lions Test cap against Australia in 2001, said: “I didn’t think he’d [Morgan] get in, unfortunately, because unless he was going to start, I didn’t think they were going to put him on a bench, which is a travesty.

“But just purely on the basis of there’s so many back-row options there, it didn’t look from the first couple of games that Jac was figuring as his [Farrell’s] main seven, which is bitterly disappointing.

“It’s sobering and a sad indictment of the way the game has gone in Wales. Only two players being selected is hard, and you’d have to say on the back of 18 losses we were always going to be up against it trying to get many more players.

“I thought there might have been four going on the tour, and we’d be in with a chance [of players in the Test XV].

“And I thought with Williams, who started his campaign on the Lions tour, he was looking sharp.

“He was probably my tip for starting nine, but unfortunately he pulled a hamstring and then Jac stood up. He didn’t really figure that much in the Argentina game, but that could be just a little bit rusty, not knowing the team members around you.

“And then he had an exceptional game where he had a man of the match performance and put himself back in contention.

Allan Martin, a goal-kicking lock from Aberavon who toured New Zealand in 1977 and South Africa three years later with the Lions, also bemoans the state of the game in Wales, saying the low representation is “just an indication of where we are”.

But he believes Morgan had done enough to be named in the starting XV for the first Test.

“I can’t see that Curry is any better than Jac Morgan. His energy is up there and he is keeping up a very high level of performance. At the breakdown he is absolutely brilliant,” Martin said.

“But every coach is different and Farrell sees it his way.”

However, even in Morgan’s absence, Martin expects the Lions to comfortably see off the Wallabies, while being adamant that the Welshman and the tour party’s youngest member, Pollock, “are the future of the Lions”.

“I think they will give the Aussies a bit of a crushing, 3-0 in the series. Hopefully a few of them will be around to go to South Africa and New Zealand to test these players out,” Martin added.