Morgan seeks to ease World Cup pain on Dragons return

Oct 6 2007 by Blair Wood, Western Mail

KEVIN MORGAN aims to get Wales’ World Cup failure out of his system by helping the Dragons back to winning ways.

Morgan had expected to be in Marseille this weekend, playing against South Africa in the World Cup, and he says it will take time for him to re-adjust to life in Newport.

The speedy full-back didn’t feature in the Fiji horror show last weekend but he insists the whole squad is feeling the pain of defeat.

“There’s no disguising the fact I’d rather be in Marseille now,” he admitted. “Everyone in the Welsh squad would rather be over there. It was a huge disappointment. That goes without saying.

“We had set our sights on going to Marseille, but unfortunately we have come up short. When you come back from such a huge disappointment it does take a couple of days to get back into things.”

But now it is the Magners League, with Ulster rather than the Springboks in Morgan’s sights.

“We have got to get it out of our system and look to the next game,” he said of the Welsh set-up. “What’s done is done and all we can do is move on from it. I won’t watch the rest of the World Cup now.

“Maybe the final, but I’m just going to concentrate fully on my role at the Dragons. “I’ve just got to play well for my region and go from there.”

Despite being subjected to playful banter since he returned to the region, Morgan’s disappointment has been eased by support from his Dragons colleagues.

“It’s always good to come back and have the mick taken out of you straight away by the boys. When you’re down they knock you even further down!” he joked. “The boys have been really good though and it’s good to meet up with them again. There’s a few new faces here but they’ve slotted in well too.”

The Dragons have lost their last three games, including two at Rodney Parade, and they face another tough challenge at home to Ulster tonight.

Morgan knows it won’t be an easy game. But he has highlighted the importance of turning Rodney Parade into a fortress like they did last season when they won 10 straight games at home.

“It’s going to be a really tough game,” he said. “Ulster have won here the last two years so we know what sort of task it will be.

“But we need to get the show back on the road, especially at home.

“We won a lot of games in a row last year and we were playing good rugby. We need that again.”

Since his return, Morgan has also lost the Dragons captaincy to Colin Charvis. While he is naturally disappointed with the decision, he has no issues with it.

He will still be vice-captain and he is hoping to offer Charvis the same help he got from the experienced flanker last season.

“I really enjoyed the captaincy last year so to lose it is obviously disappointing,” said Morgan, who does skipper the Dragons tonight in Charvis’ absence.

“But I understand the decision Paul made, he explained it to me and I’ve got no qualms.

“I’m still going to be pushing for international honours so my focus could be elsewhere at certain points in the season.

“I hope to be involved in the Wales squad so the decision makes sense.

“The role was hard last year but I think I coped with it quite well. I was pleased with the way I captained the side and I feel proud to have captained the region.

“Colin helped me a lot and, being the experienced player he is, I called on him for advice quite often. I’m hoping he will do the same with me.”

Dragons: K Morgan (capt); G Wyatt, R Gomer Davies, G Maule, R Mustoe; C Sweeney, W Evans; H Gustafson, S Jones, R Thomas, L Charteris, A Hall, D Lydiate, R Parks, J Bearman. Replacements: B Daly, A Black, J Ringer, M Owen, P Dollman, A Smith, A Walker.