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Morgan to make Wales return against Barbarians

Image source, Huw Evans Picture Agency

Image caption,

Jac Morgan played two Tests for the British and Irish Lions against Australia in 2025

By Chris Kirwan

BBC Sport Wales

Published 2 hours ago

Jac Morgan will make his Wales return as a starter against the Barbarians at Allianz Stadium on Saturday (14:00 BST).

The British and Irish Lions flanker has been named at open-side for the uncapped fixture in Twickenham.

Morgan returns to the international stage after missing eight Tests because of a dislocated left shoulder suffered when scoring a try against Argentina in boss Steve Tandy's first game last autumn.

The Gloucester-bound Ospreys forward returns to a starting line-up led by hooker Dewi Lake, who has retained the captaincy for the summer Tests.

Lock Teddy Williams plays his first fixture since suffering a dislocated right foot when landing awkwardly at a Cardiff line-out in October.

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Four players are set for their international debuts in the uncapped fixture, which is followed by the women's game at 17:00 BST.

Dragons lock or flanker Ryan Woodman and back-row forward Harrison Keddie are on the bench along with Cardiff loose-head Rhys Barratt and Ospreys tight-head Ben Warren.

The Cardiff trio of wing Josh Adams and back-row forwards Alex Mann - who has been an ever-present under Tandy - and James Botham are not involved.

The three-quarters all play for Scarlets, although wing Tom Rogers is moving to Ospreys next season.

Tandy is unable to pick 13 members of his summer squad that play for clubs in England and France because the fixture is outside World Rugby's official window.

Gloucester-bound Lake and Morgan plus Dragons number eight Aaron Wainwright, who is heading to Leicester, are available for the fixture against the Barbarians ahead of summer moves.

The absentees mean that eight changes are made to the starting line-up thatbeat Italy in March to end a three-year Six Nations losing streak.

Tandy will trim his squad after the Baa-Baas fixture before the Nations Championship opener against Fiji at Cardiff City Stadium on Saturday, 4 July.

Wales then travel to face Argentina in San Juan and world champions South Africa in Durban, two sides that won comprehensively at Principality Stadium in the autumn.

"The Barbarians will present a good challenge for us," said Tandy. "They have lots of skilful players and I'm sure it'll be a high-pace game with lots of offloads.

"That in turn will be a great preparation for us as we head into the Nations Championship and playing Fiji the week after.

"The more games we play, the more consistent we can be. We're looking to pick up where we left off in the Six Nations and continue to build and improve as a group."

Wales have not won back-to-back fixtures since the 2023 World Cup, when Warren Gatland's side enjoyed four victories before being knocked out by Argentina in the quarter-finals.

How they line up

Barbarians men: Spring; Kellaway, Ward, Nankivell, Vakatawa; Plummer, de Klerk (capt); Kharaishvili, Dee, Koch, Rodda, Taofifenua, Salakaia-Loto, Boshier, Hughes.

Replacements: Thacker, Iscaro, Alo-Emile, Tanga, Joseph, Arata, North, McConnell.

Wales men: Murray (Scarlets); Rogers (Scarlets), James (Scarlets), Hawkins (Scarlets), Mee (Scarlets); Edwards (Ospreys), Hardy (Ospreys); G Thomas (Ospreys), Lake (Ospreys, capt), Lewis (Dragons), Carter (Dragons), T Williams (Cardiff), Plumtree (Scarlets), Morgan (Ospreys), Wainwright (Dragons).

Replacements: Elias (Scarlets), Barratt (Cardiff), Warren (Ospreys), Woodman (Dragons), Keddie (Dragons), Morgan-Williams (Ospreys), Costelow (Scarlets), Grady (Cardiff).

Referee: Anthony Woodthorpe (England)

Assistants: Alex Thomas, Jamie Parr (England)

**TMO:**Stuart Terheege (England)

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