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Dafydd Jenkins paid huge compliment with comparison to Wales great
By PA
Warren Gatland has paid new Wales captain Dafydd Jenkins a major compliment by saying he expects to see him “in the mould of Alun Wyn Jones”.
Jenkins has won many admirers through his captaincy of Exeter Chiefs, with the Gallagher Premiership club in title contention and progressing to the Investec Champions Cup knockout phase.
The 21-year-old will take charge for Wales’ Guinness Six Nations opener against Scotland on February 3, with Gatland enthused by his potential.
“We’ve got a young captain who I think will be an outstanding professional,” Gatland said.
“I expect to see him in the mould of Alun Wyn Jones. He doesn’t say a lot, but he leads by example.
“He is last out of the gym, he does his analysis and he has got an edge to him. I don’t mind that. He’s got a group of good men that will be there to support him too.”
Jones made a world record 170 Test match appearances for Wales and the British and Irish Lions, ticking every box as a true great of the game.
He retired from Test rugby in May last year and, with the likes of fellow Welsh Lions Justin Tipuric, Dan Biggar and Leigh Halfpenny also exiting the international game, Jenkins now heads up a new generation.
“The edge is about someone who doesn’t back down,” Gatland added.
“You are looking for someone who doesn’t back down from anyone, someone who gets excited by challenges.
“When I look back on my time in rugby, the best player I coached in that was Lawrence Dallaglio. The bigger the occasion, the more excited he got.
“He absolutely loved it. He would get pumped up for a challenge.
“I think Daf will be like that, going forward. Whatever he is up against, he is not going to fear anything.
“I think with captains, you get different personalities and people. I suppose that is the beauty of it.
“With someone like Daf who has come into that role, it is about how much we support him from a coaching perspective as staff and also the experienced players, like Gareth (Davies) and George North.
“I think we’ve got some quality men in the team and that makes a big difference to me. What I like about this group of people is they are good people.
“If you galvanise them and bring them together, work hard and they will play for each other.”
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Latest Comments
The prospect of the club match ups across hemispheres is surely appetising for everyone. The reality however, may prove to be slightly different. There are currently two significant driving forces that have delivered to same teams consistently to the latter champions cup stages for years now. The first of those is the yawning gap in finances, albeit delivered by different routes. In France it’s wealthy private owners operating with a higher salary cap by some distance compared to England. In Ireland it’s led by a combination of state tax relief support, private Leinster academy funding and IRFU control - the provincial budgets are not equal! This picture is not going to change anytime soon. The second factor is the EPCR competition rules. You don’t need a PhD. in advanced statistical analysis from oxbridge to see the massive advantage bestowed upon the home team through every ko round of the tournament. The SA teams will gain the opportunity for home ko ties in due course but that could actually polarise the issue even further, just look at their difficulties playing these ties in Europe and then reverse them for the opposition travelling to SA. Other than that, the picture here is unlikely to change either, with heavyweight vested interests controlling the agenda. So what does all this point to for the club world championship? Well the financial differential between the nh and sh teams is pretty clear. And the travel issues and sporting challenge for away teams are significantly exacerbated beyond those already seen in the EPCR tournaments. So while the prospect of those match ups may whet our rugby appetites, I’m very much still to be convinced the reality will live up to expectations…
Go to commentsThe manipulative and cynical Erasmus….
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