Jenkins exits with blast over Wales axe
GARETH Jenkins has called time on one of the longest coaching careers in world rugby with a blast at the ‘appalling’ nature of his sacking by Wales.
After 34 years with the Scarlets, Wales and the Lions, Jenkins told The Rugby Paper yesterday:” I’m 65 now and I’ve made the decision to stand down from my full-time commitment to the Scarlets. It’s been a great journey with plenty of highs and plenty of disappointments.’’
The most devastating took place nine years ago, the morning after Wales had been knocked out of the World Cup quarter-finals by Fiji in Nantes. Instead of being allowed to defend himself, Jenkins was sacked on the spot by then WRU chairman David Pickering and chief executive Roger Lewis.
Jenkins had been preparing for a news conference at the team’s seaside hotel. “I had a telephone call an hour before from Pickering and Lewis,’’ he said. “They said they wanted to have a conversation with me.
“They asked me to resign. I said I had no intention of resigning. I said it would be appropriate that they allow me to come back, meet the WRU committee and talk about the real concerns I had so they could understand the challenges I faced as head coach.
“That debrief was essential for Welsh rugby so they could understand the challenges I faced. I never got the chance.
“They said: ‘We are putting you on gardening leave.
‘’The way I was treated was appalling. I felt furious about the indignity of it all.”
The RFU’s subsequent treatment of Stuart Lancaster offered a sharp contrast to Wales’ kneejerk dismissal of Jenkins.
England gave Lancaster the chance to talk about his experience before they decided his future.
“England waited for a comprehensive review of the World Cup and made their decision based on that,” said Jenkins. “Of course we failed at the 2007 World Cup. I asked myself: ‘How much did I fail?’ I don’t think I did.
“Eighty per cent of the decisions I made were right. I might have done better with the other 20 per cent.”
Jenkins, who began coaching Llanelli in 1982, had been head of the Scarlets’ development and recruitment. He has now limited himself to a parttime scouting role.