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The Six Nations is no place for the weak or the meek. Particularly not on a frantic Friday evening in Paris when Wales, last year’s wooden spoonists, have to enter the bubbling cauldron of the Stade de France. The pumped-up hosts will be scenting dragon’s blood and the task awaiting the visiting pack will be formidable in anybody’s language.
Cometh the hour, cometh the hard men. It is the reason why Dafydd Jenkins, the lock who became the youngest captain in Six Nations history last season, believes age matters less than attitude. “There’s pressure but if you can’t handle that you shouldn’t be there,” murmurs the 22-year-old. When the going gets tough, Jenkins is the type of player who relishes the battle even more.
Luckily, the fiercely committed Exeter captain, now in the final year of a sports science degree at the University of Exeter, also has a seriously high pain threshold. If you are squeamish and wonder about the stoicism needed to play top-level rugby this may be a good time to skip a paragraph or two. “Last season my kneecap kept dislocating … it probably happened 10 times. You’ve just got to slap it back in and get on with it.”
Blimey. Successful patella tendon surgery last summer has fixed the problem but a concurrent shoulder operation has been taking longer to overcome. “My shoulder’s still giving me a bit of gyp. It’s hard when you’re trying to whack people week in, week out.”
Just as well, then, that Jenkins – “Out on the pitch with a full crowd in is when I feel the happiest” – is living the dream he has craved since childhood. No matter that Wales have failed to win in 12 consecutive Tests; the simple act of pulling on a red jersey “means everything” to him. “It’s everything I ever wanted as a young boy. I wasn’t really any good at much else so I set myself the goal of being involved in the team. Especially a winning Welsh team. I haven’t achieved that yet and it’s still something I’m working towards day in, day out.”
To make it happen Wales will need to find a way to maximise every ounce of the talent that, in Jenkins’s opinion, is still out there. He still remembers vividly an under-16 age-group game for Ospreys when, among others, his Exeter colleague Manny Feyi-Waboso was playing against him for Cardiff. “He was probably the size he is now back then. He was just as fast and I remember thinking: ‘Who the fuck is this?’”
Feyi-Waboso has since declared for England but Jenkins, whose father, Hywel, once played in a non-cap game for Wales against the United States as a back-row forward, is hopeful the tide will turn. “I think the Welsh regions will target younger players and try and keep them because they’ve seen they’re losing them. It’s important to develop players as early as possible so they’re ready when they do get called up.”
He also suggests the regulations governing eligibility for non-Wales-based players need re-examining. “It’s a bit unfair for certain players. It seems a real waste to stop Welsh players playing in the Premiership, which is a top league and good to play in.”
Ironically though, it was a move to England to study at Hartpury College that ended up kickstarting his own career. “My family sacrificed a lot to send me there and I knew it was a last chance of getting a contract at a young age.”
Shrewd judges such as Exeter’s director of rugby, Rob Baxter, suspect he will be a Test regular for a long time. “In my opinion, he’s a guy who will be a Lion,” said Baxter recently. “His attitude to playing, to training and what he expects from those around him is absolutely fantastic. I would fully expect him to have a very good Six Nations.”
Jenkins himself is cagier – “I’ve got to play way better even to be in the conversation; I know I’ve got a long way to go to be competing with Tadhg Beirne and Joe McCarthy” – but is looking forward to this year’s championship. “It’s a chance to compete against the best sides and to see where you are as a player.”
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It is not going to be remotely easy. Jenkins has already encountered Antoine Dupont and co this season when Exeter faced Toulouse – “As a club team they’re up there with some international teams I’ve played against … they didn’t have a weakness anywhere” – but still believes Wales can restore some much needed public faith. “Firstly it’s about getting a bit of pride back in the badge in terms of performances. When we’re playing these big teams like France and Ireland in the Six Nations it’s important not to give them too much respect.”
His spell on the sidelines last autumn has, if anything, heightened his desire for success. Accompanying his mother, Rhian, a Porthcawl GP, to the Wales v South Africa Test was a particular highlight: “She said it was the most relaxed she’s ever been watching a rugby game.”
“Mum won’t mind me saying she’s nuts. She loves the rugby: along with my gran she comes to every game at Exeter. My dad’s side of the family all get behind me too. There’s quite a lot of family pressure to do well and achieve what you set out to do.”
Now he is back fit and available, even more determined to make them proud. “Every time you step on the pitch you don’t want to let them down, particularly on a Friday or Saturday night when the beers are flowing. Playing for Wales probably came a lot sooner than I anticipated but when you get that opportunity you do anything not to let it slip.” All he now requires is a Welsh win or two to make the pain and hard graft worthwhile.
