When you speak to people in the game about Jac Morgan, the superlatives come thick and fast. World class, tremendous, brave, committed, powerful, tenacious, physical – you can take your pick really.

We’ve had to wait a while this season to see those qualities out on the pitch, with the Ospreys and Wales flanker sidelined for more than four months by a dislocated shoulder.

But he has really hit the ground running in his four appearances since returning to action, culminating in a try scoring Player of the Match performance in last Saturday’s URC victory over the Hollywoodbets Sharks.

The 26-year-old Ospreys skipper will doubtless be a pivotal figure once again in Friday night’s huge Welsh derby clash with fellow play-off hopefuls Cardiff Rugby at the Arms Park.

He may be heading for Gloucester at the end of the season, but he is clearly determined to go out with a bang and give his absolute all before leaving.

“That sums him up as a bloke and as a player really,” says Wales legend Shane Williams, who was commentating on the Sharks game for Premier Sports. “He is always committed, always plays well and always fights for the cause. What he does is he leads from the front as captain and it brings out the best in players around him. They look at him and think if he is doing that I need to get on his toes and keep up with him and get involved.

“His tackling, his ball-carrying, his tenacity, his work over the ball, even his kicking. He has got it all. He just doesn’t stop. He is brave as well.”

Fellow Premier pundit Tom Shanklin added: “He is a power athlete. He’s not the biggest, but the power output is absolutely huge. You can see that whether it’s tackling, whether it’s carrying, he is good close to the line, he gets a lot of pushover tries, pick and gos.

“He’s good in the wide channels as well. He’s got the complete game. He had been injured for a long time, but he came into the Ospreys team last month and he was straight back into it like he had never been away. He has got that mentality where he can be out for four or five months, get back in and just have the game of the season.”

As for the player himself, the Swansea-born Morgan is relishing being out on the pitch again.

“It’s a great feeling being back out with the boys,” he said. “I really missed it. It’s a tough one getting injured. I’ve picked up a couple now over the last few years. It’s just one of the things that happens with rugby. When it does, it’s a case of trying to get back onto the field as quickly as possible and in as best shape as possible.”

Providing a coaching insight on Morgan’s impressive return, Ospreys boss Mark Jones said: “It’s a big challenge to come from four and a half months out and come back to the level he was operating at. That’s a real sign of class.

“Even the best players sometimes take a while to warm back up and get their eye in, so to speak.

“But he’s had a massive impact since coming back. His influence on the game is big, but his influence on his team-mates is probably the most influential thing. We are just delighted to have him back and to see him out on the field. He’s smiling and getting stuck in and it’s awesome to see.

“Having him back in the team fresh has added to it and it is pushing the other guys on.”

Former Wales wing Jones continued: “I didn’t know Jac at all until coming into the environment here. “Obviously, I had seen him playing and the quality of the player was there for everybody to see. But what I have been equally impressed with since working with him is the quality of the character and of the person. He is such a humble guy. He is so understated in everything he does, other than playing the game. He’s massively in your face when he plays the game.

“He’s respected and known for all the right things. The purists of rugby know exactly what he’s about, his physicality and his defensive element, while he’s a hell of an attacker as well. He’s both sides of the ball really and he’s so aware.

“His ball carrying is very impressive in terms of gaining metres through contact against some big bodies, while he’s also an absolute pain at the breakdown and his work around the defensive stuff and in the set-piece is very good.”

Adding the players’ perspective on Morgan, Ospreys hooker Sam Parry said: “He’s world class.

“There’s not much you can’t say about him. He does it all, both sides of the ball. He’s just an unbelievable captain, player and person and we are lucky to have him.”

It was an emotional night for Morgan against the Sharks at Bridgend’s Brewery Field as his “cousin and best friend” Harri Morgan, the vice-captain of Brynamman RFC’s first team, had died suddenly earlier in the week.

In a moving tribute on social media, Jac said Harri “meant the world” to him and his family and that he had played Saturday’s match in honour and memory of him. “It felt important to go out there and make him proud, playing the game that he loved,” said the openside flanker, who had ‘In Memory of Harri Morgan’ embossed on the back of his jersey, alongside the Brynamman RFC crest.

Ospreys coach Jones said: “Jac had a tough week, but the players got behind him and he led exceptionally well from the front. What a way to perform in such a big game as a captain. He was tremendous. Jac is a class man, a class player and that performance summed him up really.”

Springboks veteran Marcell Coetzee has been hailed as “a tremendous human being” and a great leader both on and off the field.

The 31-times capped back row forward will be 35 next month, but he is still producing the goods as he showed with a try scoring Player of the Match display in the Vodacom Bulls’ 47-7 victory away to Dragons RFC on the weekend.

He is a key man in the Bulls’ push for a BKT URC Play-Off spot which continues with another game in Wales this Friday when they travel to the Scarlets.

Head coach Johan Ackermann – himself a former ‘Boks forward – is delighted to have the services of the 6ft 4ins, 18st 6lbs Coetzee to call on. “I had always admired him as a player. Now I have got the privilege to coach him,” he said. “He is just a tremendous human being, first of all. And, secondly, he is in great form at the moment. He has worked hard on his conditioning, so he is in a good space and he is playing really well.

“It’s important for any team that your leaders do well and he is doing well at the moment. He is a leader on and off the field. The players have a tremendous respect for him as a person, not just for his capability on the rugby field, but also the way he speaks and the way he leads by example off the field. He is just a good team man.

“That’s what I appreciate about Marcell. When he plays for the team, it’s really personal for him. He gives his all for the team. That’s what he wants to do.”

As for Coetzee’s veteran status, former second row Ackermann knows from personal experience that age is no barrier. “Over the years, there have been a lot of people like Brad Thorn and Schalk Brits who played in World Cups when they were 36 or older,” he said. “I was fortunate to play for the ‘Boks at 37 and you also have guys who play when they are 19. It’s still up to the player to perform and if Marcell keeps performing like he does, then age is just a number.

“Then the young guys must keep challenging and hopefully he will keep challenging them back.”

Having made his name with the Sharks, Coetzee went on to enjoy a successful five year stint with Ulster Rugby, while also having spells in Japan with Honda Heat and Kobe Steelers.

Now he is back plying his trade in South Africa, making his presence felt with his mighty ball carrying from the flank amid the Bulls’ power game.

“That’s one of our strengths,” said the 34-year-old, speaking after the seven-try bonus point victory over the Dragons at Rodney Parade. “We have gone back to the DNA that works for us, combining that with a good kicking game and a good attacking game. Everybody has bought in. We have come together as a squad and got the mindset right.”

Reflecting on his Player of the Match award, he said: “This is nice, but it was a collective team effort.

“Everyone bought into the plan, everybody got stuck in. We know it’s always difficult going to the Dragons in Newport with a hostile home crowd. I am very proud of the boys. We just want to continue the momentum now.”

The Bulls currently occupy the final URC play-off spot, lying in eighth place with games against the Scarlets (a), Zebre Parma (h) and Benetton Rugby (h) to come. “We are in that tough place where we can’t really afford any mistakes or our chance to stay in the play-offs is out,” said Ackermann.

“Every game now is massive for us. We are in a position where if we don’t win all three, the teams under us can kick us out of that top eight. I don’t want to put more pressure on us, but as a team we know how important the last three round robin games are.”

Looking at their next assignment on tour in Wales, the coach said: “The Scarlets have quality on the field and their log position is not justified. If you look at the BKT URC, any team can beat any team on the day if you are not 100 per cent switched on. We love Wales. Like South Africans, they are passionate about rugby. But we have got a job to do here.”

The battle for BKT URC Play-Off positions has been shaken up in a big way with the top three sides going into the weekend failing to pick up a point between them as they all went down to defeat.

League leaders Glasgow Warriors, the second-placed DHL Stormers and Ulster Rugby finished up empty handed to leave home quarter-final spots still very much up for grabs, while the Race to the Eight is now down to 11 teams.

Glasgow conceded eight tries as they were beaten 54-12 by the Fidelity SecureDrive Lions in Johannesburg. It’s a bonus point victory which has taken the Lions up to fourth in the table, with two-try centre Henco van Wyk picking up the Player of the Match award.

“We’ve worked hard over the past couple of weeks and it paid off,” said Van Wyk. “We play smart rugby. When we are ahead, we still stick to our structures. We keep it simple and just focus on ourselves.”

Skipper Francke Horn added: “What an unbelievable performance. Credit to the guys.

“Sometimes you look at all the beautiful tries and you forget the hard work the boys put in to be solid on defence and to secure the ball.”

The result of the weekend came in Cape Town where Connacht Rugby claimed a 33-24 bonus point victory over the Stormers as they scored three tries in the final quarter to come from 24-14 down.

They are now just a point off the top eight, with head coach Stuart Lancaster fulsome in his praise for his team’s five-try display. “It was awesome. I am super proud of all the boys,” he said.

“The young lads were amazing and the senior lads were amazing in helping the younger lads believe. When you look at the lads we have sat back in Galway, they will be super proud as well. We have got a real good squad building now.

“The first half wasn’t perfect, but we stayed in the fight. The set piece power the Stormers have can’t be underestimated, but we held on and stayed in the fight. I always felt if we could get some multi-phase going, we would cause them problems and that’s what happened.

“We worked hard, we believed and we won. It’s a great feeling.”

As for Ulster, they have dropped down to fifth after losing 29-21 at home to Leinster Rugby who have replaced them in third spot, while Munster Rugby are up to sixth courtesy of a 45-15 seven-try victory away to Benetton Rugby.

Munster coach Clayton McMillan said: “I am very happy. I thought the lads played exceptionally well. They stood up for each other, won all the big moments and got the reward. Our season is on the line, so we had to play well and that sets a little bit of a benchmark for us around attitude and application. It’s a massively congested table and you don’t want to be relying on other people to do you favours.”

Cardiff Rugby are seventh having produced the comeback of the weekend – and arguably the season – to beat the Scarlets 28-24 after trailing 24-7 with just eight minutes to go in Llanelli.

The current top eight is completed by the Vodacom Bulls who beat Dragons RFC 47-7 at Rodney Parade, running away with the game in the second half after being level at 7-7 until just before the break. Their skipper Ruan Nortje said: “I don’t think the scoreboard really summed up the game. It was a much tighter contest.

“Rodney Parade is a really tough place to come and play. The Dragons are a team with a lot of spirit and they put in a lot of effort, so we are really happy with this result.”

The second row added: “We know where we are at the moment and what we have to do. We are in play-off rugby until the end of the season.”

Looking outside the top eight, the Ospreys beat the Hollywoodbets Sharks 21-17 at Bridgend’s Brewery Field to leave both teams on 34 points and still in with a mathematical chance of making the Play-Offs.

Ospreys hooker Sam Parry said: “All we can do is win our games. First one down, three to go.

“We have got three games left and we probably need to win them all to give ourselves a chance of getting into that top eight.”

The Ospreys were reduced to 14 men for the final 15 minutes with injuries to three of their props seeing the game move to uncontested scrums, but they held firm to claim the spoils.

Skipper Jac Morgan, who was named Player of the Match, said: “It was a great game and a great result. In all fairness to the boys, the effort they put in to stick in there for the 80 minutes, it was a hell of a shift.”

Coach Mark Jones added: “When you are playing the South African teams, they are such strong outfits, so any win against them is a very good one. We knew it was going to be a tough battle, but I thought we did a really good job against a very good side, a big team.”

Wrapping up the weekend fixtures, Zebre Parma came tantalisingly close to a rare away win, only to be denied at the death as Edinburgh Rugby snatched the spoils with the last kick of the game with Cammy Scott converting Boan Venter’s 79th minute try to make it 31-30 at the Hive Stadium.

Those two teams are now out of the Play-Off race, along with Benetton, the Scarlets and the Dragons.

Stunning Cardiff comeback delights Van Zyl

Cardiff coach Corniel van Zyl paid tribute to the fighting spirit of his team after their remarkable 28-24 comeback victory away to the Scarlets took them one step closer to the “golden nugget” of a play-off spot.

They were trailing 24-7 with just eight minutes to go, but then delivered a stunning turnaround which culminated in two-try prop Javan Sebastian claiming the match-winning score a minute from time with the hosts down to 13 men following two yellow cards.

It was the unlikeliest of bonus point victories, but such a crucial result as it has put them seventh in the table with three matches left to play.

Van Zyl said: “I thought the game had gone past us, but we speak a lot about that fighting spirit. We reference it every day, just to go again. Ultimately, that’s what we pride ourselves on, how much we can fight for the jersey, how much we can fight for each other and obviously for the supporters.

“That is the bigger picture of what everyone is working towards and fortunately it worked.”

Reflecting further on a rollercoaster Welsh derby, he said: “We knew it was going to be interesting, but that was next level. There was a lot of time in that game where you didn’t think we were going to win, so I will take it. It could have easily gone the other way. We put a bit of pressure on them late in the game, that created opportunities and then the yellow cards happened.

“It’s massive to get the win and the four tries. With 70 minutes gone, there was a long way to go. It was a big challenge. I am just pleased with the result. We are still in the fight now, whereas if we had lost it would have been almost like ‘Where do we go now?’.

“At least now we know we are in control of what we do.

“It’s a six day turnaround to Ospreys, another big derby and another big challenge. All the teams are beating each other and you just never know how it’s going to end up. We have never been in the play-offs, so that was definitely one of the goals we wanted to achieve this year. The golden nugget is up there, but we appreciate there’s a lot of work to do.”

The Player of the Match award went to former Scarlets prop Sebastian who sparked the revival with a 72nd minute try and then forced his way over for the decisive score in the final play.

“It doesn’t happen often where a tighthead comes on and gets the Man of the Match,” said Van Zyl.

“It’s just the way it went. I am just pleased for him and the team.”

Adding his thoughts, super sub Sebastian said: “The pressure was on us, but the boys dug really deep in the second half and showed what we can do as a team when we stick to what we are good at. We had a chat behind the posts and just said to take it back to basics and do what we are good at and we came out on top. I was just glad to get on the right side of the score.”

Skipper Liam Belcher said: “It’s all about fight in this squad and I don’t think you can ever question that. It’s in our hands now. We have just got to win our games and hopefully we will make it.”

Having trailed 7-5 at the break, the Scarlets then touched three times in the space of eight minutes to move well clear with the Cardiff lineout malfunctioning badly. But, in an extraordinary finish, they then conceded three tries themselves in the last eight minutes amid yellow cards to Taine Plumtree and Blair Murray.

Prendergast puts frustrations behind him

Sam Prendergast was left to reflect on the fickle nature of rugby after putting recent frustrations behind him to produce a Player of the Match display in Leinster’s bonus point win over Ulster in Belfast.

The Ireland fly-half had been omitted altogether from the Investec Champions Cup knock-out games against Edinburgh and Sale over the previous two weekends, while he hadn’t started a game for a month. But handed the No 10 jersey for the inter pro clash with Ulster, he delivered a try-scoring 14 point performance as a much-changed Leinster team won 29-21 to secure the maximum haul and clinch the Irish Shield.

Reflecting on his fluctuating fortunes of late, he said: “To be honest with you, it’s a pretty fickle game. But when your team-mates are that good, in terms of how close we are, and when they play like that on the pitch, it just makes my job a lot easier. We spoke a lot during the week about how a lot of this group played in Glasgow a few weeks back.

“That was a very frustrating game and we came away annoyed with what we put out there.

“When you look at what we put out there in this game, especially the first 50-60 minutes, it was really good. We got a lot right. It felt like as backs we could do whatever we wanted because the forwards were unbelievable, just backing us up, whether it was scrum or lineout.

“They just gave us an unbelievable platform and it was a lot easier to play with that.”

The 23-year-old added: “There was a lot of momentum with the club coming into this week and I think we put a lot of pressure on ourselves to keep that momentum going and we did, so it’s brilliant. It’s a pretty special feeling, to be fair.”

Giving his assessment on the young fly-half, head coach Leo Cullen said: “Sam has had a frustrating couple of weeks in terms of selection, so for him to come out and play the way he did is testament to him. He’s kept his head down and he’s working hard on all aspects of his game. I thought he managed the game incredibly well out there.”

Cullen had made 12 changes from the side that beat Sale in the Champions Cup quarter-final the week before, but Leinster showed their quality in depth as they raced into a 29-0 lead and saw the game out following an Ulster revival.

“There are so many moving parts at this time of the season, you need to rely on your squad. It’s hugely important,” said the former Ireland second row. “I was really pleased with how the guys stepped in. I thought a lot of them really stood up well. It was such a physical game out there, with both teams going hard at it, which is what everyone wants to see in inter-pros. It was unbelievably keenly contested.

“Guys understand how much is at stake for them out there. I thought it was a great contest. It’s so competitive, the BKT URC. We showed good resolve and the effort over the course of the game was great. It’s a good win for us on the road. It was pleasing.”

What’s coming next?

It’s Round 16 next weekend and we are in for some crucial contests with no team yet guaranteed a play-off spot.

There will be a compelling top-of-the-table clash in Cape Town on the Saturday afternoon with the second-placed Stormers entertaining league leaders Glasgow.

Just as enthralling will be the meetings between top eight contenders in Limerick and Johannesburg, with Munster (sixth) hosting Ulster (fifth) and the Lions (fourth) taking on Connacht (ninth).

Elsewhere, there’s a big Welsh derby at the Arms Park where Cardiff welcome the Ospreys, while third-placed Leinster travel to Treviso to take on Benetton, with the other fixtures being Scarlets v Bulls, Edinburgh v Sharks and Zebre v Dragons.