Amman Valley star Jac Morgan produced a man of the match performance as he led Wales to a convincing 20-9 win over England at the Principality Stadium on Saturday.

The 23 year-old was named as captain for the opening game in the Vodafone Summer Series, and he excelled in both attack and defence, especially in the second half.

He was Wales' top tackler with 26 hits – one of which stopped opposite number Tom Pearson in his tracks before unceremoniously dumping the Englishman backwards. 

He also brushed off challenges from England's Joe Cokanasiga and Jonny Hill before feeding supporting scrum half Gareth Davies to touch down for Wales' opening try.

Morgan captained a Wales side that contained a number of players he played with at Under 20s level, including outside half Sam Costelow and new centre Max Llewellyn.

“I was pretty chuffed when Gats asked me to be captain, and it's a great honour to lead the boys out," said the Ospreys flanker, a former pupil at Amman Valley school.

"There are a lot of leaders to turn to and it makes it easier for me having those boys supporting me, and there’s a lot of leaders to turn to who want the best for the squad."

Head coach Warren Gatland said he had no qualms in handing the captain's armband to the impressive Ospreys flanker in only his 10th senior appearance for his country. 

“It’s a great opportunity for Jac. I left it pretty late before asking him, but he said he’d be honoured to do it,” said Gatland.

“He’s a fantastic individual, he’s respected in the group, and he’s got a big future for Wales. We see him as a seven.

“He’s been great this week and it’s a proud moment for him and his family. I got a huge kick out of seeing his reaction when I asked him if he wanted to be captain .

“He doesn’t say a lot or talk a lot, a bit like Sam Warburton. He does his talking out there, and leads by example. That’s a huge positive about him.

“We went to Turkey last week and took a referee with us to do some live stuff. One of the comments was that some of the interaction he had with Jac was really impressive.

“He was asking good, positive questions without being aggressive. That was probably an indication that we’d made the right call.”

On his man of the match performance, Gatland said: “I thought Jac was outstanding, we’ve spoken a lot about Jac and where he’ll play, and we see him as a seven. 

“There’s good competition there with Tommy Reffell and Taine Basham. Going forward, it’s about making sure we have that balance of physicality and size in the back-row."

Morgan - who went to school with Wales Women captain Hannah Jones - was also following in the footsteps of another player from his locality, the late Clive Rowlands.

Rowlands, a former Wales player, captain, coach, team manager and WRU President died last week at the age of 85. He captained Wales in all 14 games he played, kicking-off against England in Cardiff 60 years ago.

“I was fortunate enough to know Clive for years and I played with his grandson at Cwmtwrch juniors. Every Sunday, he’d be down watching us play,” said Morgan.

“To be able to know him and meet him has been great because of what he did for the village and Cwmtwrch was brilliant.

"He’s been such a role model for everyone who has come through there. His passing is a sad moment and I send my condolences to his family. He had a great effect on us all.”