WALKING AROUND BELFAST, Aidan Morgan would stick out. Tanned and glowing. Long blonde hair and a moustache so trendy it hurts, he’s an exotic specimen.
Only, it might have worked out very differently. His grandfather was from this town, but emigrated at just 17. The Morgan family ended up in Auckland.
Aidan has played underage for the All Blacks and made 23 appearances for the Hurricanes last season.
With Billy Burns switching to Munster, Morgan has filled the fly-half gap. He has responded by grabbing two tries in the first three games of the season, while also showing the range of his kicking game, a rare bright spark in their fruitless trip to South Africa as he found Jacob Stockdale in space for a try against the Bulls.
It’s the sort of thing that could draw the attention of Andy Farrell, as Morgan prepares to show his weaponry in Ulster’s home URC fixture on Saturday against Connacht (kick off 8pm).
“I knew in the back of my head that I could apply for a passport, I never really thought of doing it at this age but I guess the opportunity arose with the possibility of coming to Ulster and be Irish qualified here as well which I know is both important for Ulster as a club and the Irish Rugby Union,” says Morgan.
“I didn’t think too deeply about it, I knew I could have if I needed to but not (necessarily) doing it this young.”
For now his parents are letting him settle, but plans are afoot to get over for Christmas and get a look at their boy in festive action at Ravenhill.
At 23, it has been a brave move, but he has solid reasons to come north.
“Just on a personal level I just want to grow my game,” he says.
“How strong the URC competition is and how good Irish rugby is going at the moment, it was a decision to grow my game and test myself over here and I felt like it was something my career needed.
“I feel like I’ve grown in leaps and bounds since I’ve been here and looking to carry on throughout the rest of the season.”
Ulster also had to sell him the vision.
“Richie (Murphy, head coach) and Bryn (Cunningham, operations director) got in contact and said there was an opportunity for me.
“It’s a legendary club and a nice young group and they’ve really got a plan to bring this squad through. So it was an exciting prospect for me and I took a chance to come over to the other side of the world and really challenge myself.”
Ulster has had their share of Kiwis before. He reached out to Sean Reidy, but the conversation was more about real estate and where to live in Belfast.
But as for the rugby, he’s landed fully-formed and ready. Murphy has put him in and any head coach’s relationship with his fly-half has to be tight.
With the pack suffering, light on numbers and experience, he has been instantly installed as one of the leaders of the team.
“It’s super important, especially in the northern hemisphere, the physicality and the set-piece of the game so I know the forwards are working very hard,” he says.
“There’s a lot of effort being put in to shore up that side of our game but for me as an out-half it’s important that I keep the boys in the right area of the park. Keep them on the front foot with a smart kicking game and smart tactical plays so that’s what I’ve been working on.”
He had the experience of playing alongside Leinster-bound Jordie Barrett at Hurricanes as a magnificent apprenticeship, one of the “best players in the world,” as he describes.
“His skills-set, the way he sees the game, the way he communicates is top class so just watching him at training and seeing what he sees and how he executes,” Morgan says.
“I’ve no doubt that when he comes over and joins Leinster that he’ll make a big impact in how they play.
“Any of the top players I’ve played with you can see the quality is there, the calmness on the ball and the way they see the game is something that every player strives to get to that level.”
Funny how the world turns. In April he might get the chance to play against him on Irish soil. He’ll also be looking out for Leinster assistant coach Tyler Bleyendaal who was his coach at Hurricanes for the last three years.
In terms of the differences in playing styles between the hemispheres, he’d prefer to experience a greater sample size before he makes overall judgements, but there are some obvious places to start.
“In the first three games it’s been relatively dry so I can probably talk about that when I’ve played a few wetter games,” he says.
“Set-piece is massive over here, physicality is important and I think defensive systems are pretty strong so you have to be a lot more connected and run your shapes a little bit tighter to try and beat these defences because as you can see in the northern hemisphere there is a lot of effort put in to the way teams defend and the blitz defences and that sort of thing.
“It’s about adapting to that and not playing as loose and not giving defences the opportunities to get a hold on you.”
Already, he has experienced the big-night atmosphere in Ravenhill, with that late Dave Shanahan try edging the home side clear on a 20-19 scoreline.
“I definitely think getting the fans behind you is uplifting for the team and it was a pretty cool atmosphere against Glasgow and no doubt the fans will turn out again on Saturday night,” he adds.
“It gives us another couple of per cent when the fans are behind you, it’s loud and rocking at the Kingspan.”
He is a good find and has been impressive in his first few games. I hope he does well at Ulster.
I like the look of him on the park, seems to fit Ulster’s style of play