Shane Williams’ column: World-class Matthew Morgan needs to play in Premiership

I don’t say this lightly but Matthew Morgan is one of the most naturally gifted players in the world. Yes, I said the world. But ‘Titch’ faces two of the most important games of his career in the next ten days after this week being named Championship Player of the Season in England.
That will mean nothing if Bristol do not win promotion to the Aviva Premiership this season via the two-legged play-off final, starting Wednesday.
I saw Matthew emerge from the Ospreys academy and he is a remarkable talent.
Attacking-wise, there are not many players in the world with his instinct for beating a man with a step or a change of speed.
At the Ospreys we would often run plays against the U20s and he would absolutely rip the senior team apart.
He was so good that we used him to run lines at our defence and see if anyone could handle him.
Usually they couldn’t.
Like me, Warren Gatland and Rob Howley were huge fans and they picked him for last year’s Probables versus Probables trial match.
The shame was at the Ospreys, he had the Wales outside-half – Dan Biggar – and the World Young Player of the Year – Sam Davies – ahead of him in the pecking order.
So it was no real surprise that he decided to leave the Ospreys in search of regular rugby. I think we could all understand it.
But the real shame was that he had to move across the River Severn to find it.
I really thought one of the other regions would have snapped him up but instead he joined Bristol.
Given the way players are now moving to England and France, it really wasn’t a gamble.
Matthew was in a different position to the likes of Jonathan Davies or Jamie Roberts. He needed to move in order to improve.
There’s no doubt there will have been a conversation with Gatland before he moved and I’m sure the Welsh management will have seen Bristol as a great development tool for him.
They knew the ambition at Bristol and that he could really flourish in that division.
Bristol coach Sean Holley was a big influence on Matthew after their time together at the Ospreys. Sean promised him a regular spot and a chance to really grow.
From that perspective it has worked and in just one season, he has become the most dangerous player in the Championship.
He is now a far better player than he was at the Ospreys and he has to be worth a look at in Gatland’s training squad this summer for the World Cup.
There was always a question over his defence due to his small size, something I know all about. Teams clearly targeted his channel and led to accusations that he is too small.
Just like me, he is never going to be 6ft so there’s no point talking about it. But he has worked really hard on his strength and tackling technique, which is all he can do.
The key for Matthew now is to play in the Premiership. Otherwise guys like Owen Williams, at Leicester, will be ahead of him in the pecking order for Wales.
It’s up to old heads at Bristol like Ryan Jones and Dwayne Peel to make sure they get this young lad promoted.
They face two tough matches against Worcester Warriors – starting on Wednesday – and everyone at Ashton Gate knows they simply cannot afford to choke again.
Last year they looked odds-on to go up but lost the play-off final against London Welsh.