Prop of ages Gethin has Lions on his mind
Matt Lloyd talks to Wales legend Gethin Jenkins as his testimonial season at Cardiff Blues awaits
His displays against New Zealand last month suggest evergreen prop Gethin Jenkins could yet make a remarkable fourth British Lions tour. Only Brian O’Driscoll has achieved such a feat in the modern era, yet even the world’s most decorated prop can always rely upon his friends to keep his feet on the ground.
Jenkins hopes his testimonial season can fill the gap of a glittering career that now spans a staggering 15 years.
Top of the list is winning a Test match with the Lions. Having been selected for the tours of 2005, 2009 and 2013, playing five Tests, Jenkins has yet to savour a victory in the famous red jersey.
It is a statistical quirk that fails to recognise his huge impact, particularly on the first two tours, but a fact that his former Cardiff Blues and Wales team-mate Martyn Williams never misses the chance to point out.
“I’ve won more caps but Martyn likes to remind me that he has won more Lions Tests, even though he only started the one!” said Jenkins.
“But if I had a regret then it’s that second Test against South Africa in 2009.
“There was a moment when Bryan Habana ran between myself and Brian O’Driscoll. I should have gone low but I went high and O’Driscoll’s head went into my cheekbone and fractured it. That was my tour over.
“I still think back and ask myself, why didn’t I go low? It’s something I can never change but it was a huge frustration because I remember feeling good at the time.
“We had struggled the previous week at altitude but I had got my second wind in that game in Pretoria and felt I was flying. So I was gutted to come off after 50 minutes. Then to be sat in the hospital and hear we had lost the match in the last minute just made me feel worse.”
That was five defeats in a row for the Lions and Jenkins after the whitewash against possibly one of the greatest rugby teams, the 2005 All Blacks.
Jenkins still rates then opposite number Carl Hayman as the toughest opponent faced in his 131 Tests.
Now 35, he is the only member of the 45-man Lions squad of ’05 eyeing a return next summer. Gavin Henson is the only other one even playing.
Jenkins believes there are lessons to learn from that tour. At the time, he was critical of the involvement of political spin-doctor Alastair Campbell while now he believes the tour schedule is critical to success. “It was a tough trip. I was only 24 at the time and really enjoyed the first few weeks which were like what a Lions trip should be,” recalled Jenkins. “We played tough games and then had a good social side. It’s an intense environment so you need to be able to switch off and enjoy yourself as well. “There was a lot of the England set-up there, Clive Woodward brought a lot of his players and coaching staff. “By the time we reached the Tests we were battered. A lot of the boys were just hanging on by a thread with injuries. “The provincial teams were really strong and facing the Lions was their biggest game in years so they were really up for it.
“It will be the same next year when everyone wants to have a go at the Lions but the balance is getting our boys ready for the Test matches.
“In 2009 we probably didn’t have hard enough games leading up to the first Test, especially front-row wise, then the first Test was a shock to the system.”
Jenkins would go on to write his name alongside the Welsh legends of the Seventies by winning a third Grand Slam.
A fourth Six Nations title immediately followed when he captained Wales in that remarkable 30-3 win in the Championship decider against England in Cardiff.
For Jenkins, only the 2005 Grand Slam finale against Ireland, in which he scored the opening try, would surpass the 2013 win.
That earned a third Lions call though his tour was over inside three weeks after injury. So could 2017 end that long wait for a win?
“I’m at the stage where I just look one campaign at a time, that’s what I’ve done for the last two years. If I play well for Cardiff Blues, then hopefully I’ll be selected for Wales. After that, who knows?
“I definitely have the same motivation now as when I started. I have extra responsibility now, like being club captain last season, and starting the first two Tests in New Zealand was a big confidence boost. Now I look forward to building on that.
“I still want that Wales No.1 jersey. It’s completely different when you start, you feel a lot more responsibility.
“I know Gats is looking towards the next World Cup and that was the big reason behind some of the selections during the Six Nations. I know I can’t go on forever but, hopefully, I can still bring my experience.”
The other missing silverware from the Jenkins trophy cabinet is a domestic league title. He lifted the Heineken Cup with Toulon and both the Amlin Challenge Cup and EDF Energy Cup with Cardiff Blues and a Welsh Cup with Pontypridd.
“Winning a league title is definitely a goal.We got close in 2007 and 2008 (runners-up both years) and have been rebuilding over the last few years but now we have made some good signings and there are some good youngsters coming through.”