Blues sweat on Jenkins fitness

CARDIFF Blues are waiting anxiously on the fitness of captain Gethin Jenkins for their Challenge Cup final with Gloucester on Friday.

Jenkins, below, is struggling with a calf problem – a persistent issue for the 37year-old – and Rhys Gill’s surgery to fix a facial injury means head coach Danny Wilson has problems at loosehead.

Gill has been given the green light to return to training this week and hopes to face Gloucester, but his and Jenkins’ respective problems mean the Blues could yet go into their biggest game since they won the title in 2010 with promising rookies Corey Domachowski and Brad Thyer at loosehead.

Blues boss Danny Wilson hopes victory in northern Spain can be the perfect way for him to end his time in charge of the region.

The Wasps-bound coach said: “Gethin is an outstanding leader and from our point of view we are quite a thin squad. It’s important we get our best players on the field if we are to beat a strong and well-drilled Gloucester in a final.”

Should he be passed fit, Bilbao will be Jenkins’ fourth European final.

He said: “Sometimes as an older player you ask yourself am I done here? But you are a long time retired and we will all thrive on going to play in a big final in Bilbao.

“We have been building towards this for the last three years and there are a lot of players who have come through who are now comfortable at this level.

“In the back of our minds will be how we fell apart in the last half hour against Gloucester in the quarter-final last year, but I’d like to think we have moved forward since then.

“Our defensive system has made huge strides because we wanted to put some pride back into that area. ”