Scarlets No8 Ben Morgan makes himself available for international honours with England

BEN MORGAN has today revealed his intention to make himself available for selection for England, the country of his birth.

The 22-year-old Bristol-born No 8 said he had thought ‘long and hard’ about his decision after both England and Wales had followed the Scarlets forward’s impressive progress since he joined the West Wales region in May 2009. Morgan has appeared 42 times in a Scarlets shirt with 15 points.

Later this month, Morgan would qualify for selection Wales on the grounds of three years residency, however for the England born and bred forward, the draw and connection of an opportunity with his home country proved the most powerful.

In a personal statement released via his regional club, the Scarlets, Ben Morgan said: “I feel privileged and honoured that both Wales and England have been following me; and 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 here and putting my all into my Scarlets performances with some big league and European fixtures ahead of us this month.”

Morgan, who started his career at Dursley RFC in Gloucestershire before joining Merythr Tydfil and played for Cardiff Blues U20 before signing for Scarlets. The powerful no 8, who has another season (2012/2013) under contract to the Scarlets 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.”

Morgan said he was one of a core of Scarlets colleagues who were pushing forward quickly thanks to the investment made in emerging players at Parc y Scarlets. He said: “Nigel Davies is a great coach – he’s been very honest with me and has a real vision behind player development and giving opportunities to progress players. Having Simon Easterby, Mark Jones and Vernon Cooper in the Scarlets set-up so fresh from playing is great as they bring a real energy to things. I want to carry on doing the best I can for Scarlets and anything beyond that will hopefully follow.”

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.

“He has progressed well, worked hard and shown great commitment and determination to take his rugby career forward and has become a big and influential part of our forwards play.

“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.”

Benjamin John Morgan

Born:Bristol |18.02.89

Height:6ft 3ins

Weight:116kg

Position:No 8

Previous clubs: 1994-2007 Dursley RFC, 07-08 Cinderford RFC, 08-09 Merythr Tydfil RFC, 09 to date Scarlets

Representative honours:Gloucestershire Under-20s