Nick Cain : Ben Morgan set to fire with Telfer ‘bullet up his bum’

Ben Morgan couldn’t be in more illustrious company. A quick scan of who the Gloucester and England No.8 will be contending with in this season’s Six Nations tells a story of more world class contenders than in almost any other position. Ireland’s Jamie Heaslip has emerged already as one of the frontrunners for the 2013 Lions captaincy; Toby Faletau’s credentials from last year’s Welsh Grand Slam still shine; Johnnie Beattie has been rehabilitiated by Scotland after his exceptional form for Montpellier; and the two continental stars, Italy‘s brilliant captain Sergio Parisse, and French blockhouse Louis Picamoles round off a formidable roll-call.
In terms of international experience Morgan is the junior partner among the No.8s, having made his England debut this time last year and accumulated nine caps since then, whereas Beattie, who has been out in the widerness for two seasons is next on 16 caps, while at the other end of the scale Parisse has 91.
Morgan is the second youngest at 23 – a year older than Faletau – and the heaviest at just over 18st (116kg). Morgan is also, in the opinion of Jim Telfer, the most explosively powerful of the Lions hopefuls, including Heaslip and the Harlequins veteran he supplanted in the England side, Nick Easter.
The only drawback according to Telfer is his work-rate, and the venerable Lions coach delivers his pre-tournament assessment in characterstically blunt and colourful fashion.
“Jamie Heaslip plays well for Ireland at No.8, and in a Lions back row you need constructive players. Ben Morgan could be a very good player – he could be better than Heaslip because he has more power – but he’s a lazy devil and needs a bullet up the bum. Easter is a good player, but he would have to step up to be a Lion because he likes to play the game at his pace. He can do that at club level, but that’s not Six Nations pace, and the Lions pace is even faster than that, and that’s why Faletau is another who could come into contention.”
Morgan’s battle to shift three stone in weight since making the transition from eating all the pies as a builder’s labourer to Test player after being contracted by the Scarlets two years ago, has been well-documented. So has his struggle to stay the pace on the high veld in South Africa on his return from injury during England’s summer tour, resulting in him losing his starting slot to Thomas Waldrom for the first two autumn games against Fiji and Australia.

However, as he reflects on Telfer’s charge, the barrell-chested Morgan does so not only having regained his place for the Tests against South Africa and New Zealand in impressive style, but also looking every bit the finely-honed power athlete in this interview at the England training camp in Leeds.
His response is measured, but he talks freely about the extent of his ambition since moving back to his Gloucester roots from the Scarlets last summer.
“The Jamie Heaslip comparison is flattering, but this is only my first full season at this level, and I know I am not the finished article. I’m always working, and trying to be the best I can be. You can never stop, because someone else somewhere will be working. I want to be the hardest worker out there.
“A year ago at the Scarlets was my first senior season, and the year before that I was a development player. Each game I play I get more experience – but it takes the body a while to adapt to the conditioning. It’s not something you can do in a few weeks. In a season you have to peak each weekend for your club, and then do the same for England. So you have to be clever about when you put the work in, because otherwise you will have big dips in your performances.
“In the lower leagues you can be looser when you are carrying, or a bit more upright when you tackle, because more weight helps you, but in the elite game it levels out. At Gloucester our conditioner is Paddy Anson, an ex-Marine, and he has helped me on that side, while our forwards coach, Carl Hogg, pays great attention to detail, and small margins of improvement in skills can have big results.”
As Morgan assesses the campaign to come, and especially the opener against Scotland at Twickenham on Saturday, he also looks at how far he has travelled since coming off the bench to make his debut at Murrayfield in the same fixture last year.
“It’s been complete full circle for me, and it’s been great to have had this last year to develop, test the water, and see where we are at. The difference between this year and last is that I had a lot more to learn, and I had to adapt quickly. I give a lot of credit to the Scarlets for helping my development, but the move to Gloucester has been fantastic for me. There’s been a real buzz about the squad, and it’s great to have someone of Jimmy Cowan’s experience at scrum-half as an influence on myself, and also for someone like Freddie Burns.”
Morgan is confident in being able to fight his corner against the high-octane No.8s he will face in this tournament: “It’s not a daunting list, it’s an exciting list. Pitting yourself against them is exactly what you want, because that is how you get better. There’s the greater picture of what you are trying to do as a team, but you still definitely look at your one-on-one battle and aim to win it.”

However, he plays down the Lions factor. “We have five tough games coming up, so there are more pressing issues. It would be fantastic, but if you thought about it too much it would be a distraction and have a negative effect.”
How he sees the No.8 role is similarly clear cut. “For me it is to be a link between backs and forwards – a No.8 should be the platform for getting over the gain-line, and also covering the backfield. But my aim is to impose my carrying game on teams, and be the dominant carrier in terms of breaking them on the gain-line. I want to be seen as the best, and the Six Nations is a great stage on which to do it.”
As for the increased expectations on England after the victory over the All Blacks, Morgan embraces them. “The game against New Zealand showcased what we are capable of, and it is crucial to maintain that standard in all five games. If you don’t get nervous going into a big game, then you’re dead. There’s always that extra emotion when you walk out of the dressing rooms into the stadium, and I think nerves help. We all work for each other, and there is great pride – there’s so much fight in this squad.”
Morgan gives an endorsement to the initiative by Stuart Lancaster to broaden the whole England experience, with the coach not only holding open training days for the public, but inviting leading figures in other sports to address the players.
“Moving to Leeds involves the whole country more, and by bringing in community coaches who are contacts of Stuart’s you can see what it means to them and their clubs,” he says. “It puts perspective on things when you see the pride in the shirt.”
This week the guest speakers were Toni Minichiello, the coach of Olympic golden girl Jessica Ennis, and former England cricket captain Andrew Strauss. Morgan says he feels privileged to hear them, and that they help to bring the squad tighter together.
“Something that Toni said stood out for me. He talked about dealing with distractions by using the terms ‘silver bullets’, ‘red flags’ and ‘pig wrestling’. Silver bullets are people who mean well by trying to help you, but get in the way. Red flags are making sure that pressures from family and friends are kept
in check, while pig wrestling is people blowing things out of proportion. He gave the example of an Olympic heptathlon coach who started panicking and complaining about there being a longer distance than normal in the javelin run-up between the track and the field, when he could have solved it easily by putting down a bit of red tape.”
The relevance? “Scotland, for instance, will have a shake up with their new coaches, and you cannot afford to see this game any differently to any other. They will have their opportunities to break you down at some point, and there will be times when you are blowing. The overall message was, ‘don’t panic’!”
Morgan, who revealed that he is about to undertake his fifth house move in the last two years, has had cause to heed that advice in recent weeks after he and his fiancee, Alice, became flood victims near their rented home in the village of Sandhurst, near Gloucester.
He explains: “To get to our place Alice had to drive down a country lane which had become a stream, and she got through going one way where it was about 3ft, but got stuck going back when it was about 6ft. Our BMW X5 was a write-off, and she was scared – so we’re moving to Cheltenham.”
Despite his car problems, Morgan is revving up for this Six Nations campaign. “We’re going into this competition to win it, but we can’t go in and warm up for two games – it has to be five games at 100mph.”
The No.8 race is on, and it’s foot to the floor time for England’s big rig.