British and Irish Lions: Welsh rugby reels from Jac Morgan omission blow

Former Wales and Lions three-quarter Dafydd James says the lack of a Welshman in the line-up “says exactly where Welsh rugby is and it’s worrying”.

James, a Lions Test cap against Australia in 2001, said: “I didn’t think he’d [Morgan] get in, unfortunately, because unless he was going to start, I didn’t think they were going to put him on a bench, which is a travesty.

“But just purely on the basis of there’s so many back-row options there, it didn’t look from the first couple of games that Jac was figuring as his [Farrell’s] main seven, which is bitterly disappointing.

“It’s sobering and a sad indictment of the way the game has gone in Wales. Only two players being selected is hard, and you’d have to say on the back of 18 losses we were always going to be up against it trying to get many more players.

“I thought there might have been four going on the tour, and we’d be in with a chance [of players in the Test XV].

“And I thought with Williams, who started his campaign on the Lions tour, he was looking sharp.

“He was probably my tip for starting nine, but unfortunately he pulled a hamstring and then Jac stood up. He didn’t really figure that much in the Argentina game, but that could be just a little bit rusty, not knowing the team members around you.

“And then he had an exceptional game where he had a man of the match performance and put himself back in contention.

“I would have picked him personally, but I’m just reading between the lines he [Farrell] seems to favour Curry, [Josh] Van der Flier and obviously [Henry] Pollock.”