Wales ‘can’t be having’ an England win in Cardiff as Jenkins lays down the law for ‘dream’ Six Nations fixture
Wales captain Jac Morgan and second-row Dafydd Jenkins.
Wales second-row Dafydd Jenkins has revealed that the performances of their captain Jac Morgan has served as an inspiration for the rest of the team during their Six Nations campaign.
Although Wales are currently on a 16-Test losing streak and are languishing at the bottom of the Six Nations standings after four rounds of action.
Despite that, Morgan has caught the eye with exceptional performances in all their matches – against France, Italy, Ireland and Scotland – and Jenkins said his captain leads by example to his fellow players.
“Seeing Jac doing special things really inspires you to think we do have the sort of team to start winning games and hopefully win championships in the future,” said Jenkins.
“He’s an incredible player, a class bloke and very humble. I love playing with and playing for him. You always know he is going to give everything and be one of the best players on the pitch, whoever we are playing against.
“Having people like that – Jac, Toby (Taulupe Faletau), Tomos (Williams) – it does help the team move forward. They are special players.
‘The best No 7 in Britain at the moment’
“But Jac is above everyone else and, for me, he is the best No 7 in Britain at the moment. If you are talking about a Lions tour, he’s on there for sure, isn’t he?”
Wales will bring down the curtain on their Six Nations campaign when they host England at the Principality Stadium on Saturday.
After suffering humiliating defeats to France and Italy in their first two matches, Wales parted ways with their legendary head coach Warren Gatland.
Matt Sherratt took over the coaching reins on an interim basis and Wales delivered improved performances in narrow losses to Ireland and Scotland and Jenkins feels they can build on the positives from those results.
“I think the coaching staff that’s come in, in terms of Matt Sherratt with the attack, is making us look like a real threat. Our set-piece has been good in the last couple of games, and we want to become a dominant pack,” added Jenkins.
“There are a lot of positives to take into the next game. We obviously all know the situation in terms of the losses, but I think from taking the positives out of the games you can see there’s actually a progression forward where maybe it wasn’t as much.”
Jenkins came to the fore with an outstanding defensive display against Scotland at Murrayfield last weekend as he made 28 tackles and also won eight line-outs.
He spent most of 2024 on the sidelines after undergoing knee and shoulder surgery but has impressed during Wales’ 2025 Six Nations campaign.
‘I’m a long way off that at the moment’
“I’m quite happy with how I’m playing, but I know there is a long way to go forward if I want to be considered one of the top locks in the world. That’s what you are aspiring to be as a player, but I know I’m a long way off that at the moment,” admitted Jenkins.
“I do pride myself on my work-rate, but if you are playing for your country, your family, you are going to go to the well every week without a problem. It is probably just getting your body right in the week that’s the hard part.”
After delivering a superb performance in their first home fixture of the Six Nations against Ireland, Jenkins and his team-mates are keen to clinch their first win of the Championship against a Triple Crown chasing England this weekend.
“This is the game you dream of playing in as a kid. It’s sold out. I’m pretty sure they can win the championship, so we can’t be having that in Cardiff, can we?” he added.
“Everyone had written us off going into the Ireland game and I think a lot of the fans were just proud of the fact we were taking it to probably one of the top teams in the world. All credit to Ireland, many teams would probably have got spooked, especially when we were up.
“That’s why you can tell they are a top team – somewhere we want to be – because they kept composed in those tough situations.”
