Ellis makes try-scoring return after two years out
ELLIS Jenkins is in contention for PRO14 action this weekend, but the Cardiff Blues captain needs saving from himself according to his director of rugby Dai Young.
Jenkins finally made his return to action in a friendly win over the Ospreys on Friday, 811 days after suffering a horror knee injury playing for Wales against South Africa.
The 11-cap 27-year-old marked his return with a try in a positive 40-minute cameo which has put him in the frame to face Connacht on Saturday.
“After more than two years out 40 minutes is more than enough. It was lovely for him to score a try – you couldn’t have written the story any better,” Young said.
“I don’t want Ellis to put too much pressure on himself. He wants to be the player he was tomorrow. That’s probably not realistic after the length of time he’s been out, but it’s not for a want of trying.
“He’s going to be a bit rusty and he’s going to have to work, but I can’t ask him to do more.
“It’s up to me as a director of rugby to look after him and to protect him a little bit from himself, but not to hold him back. It’s a balancing act.”
Asked if Jenkins will now face Connacht, Young added: “He’s definitely in contention. He was in contention for the Scarlets game, but it was me that decided not to play him because I felt I wanted to see him training.
“He’ll put his hand up without a shadow of a doubt, but we’ll see how he pulls up in training.”
Young added: “It’s time for Ellis to have some time to look after himself. Wales is not on his mind. His mind is on getting back into training, getting some rugby, and hopefully
putting himself forward now for league games.”
Jenkins has had a horror road to recovery since his injury in November 2018. It featured several operations and there were doubts if he would ever get back on the field.
In his 40 minutes, Jenkins produced a trademark breakdown win as well as his try.
Two electric finishes down the wing from Aled Summerhill put the Blues in control. Summerhill’s opener came following a nice pass from Dan Fish.
Owen Lane also showed his pace to score in the opposite corner and impressed on his return from injury. The game’s standout moment though was Jenkins’ try.
Summerhill passed inside, the ball hit the deck, but the impressive Mason Grady hacked on and with no one home in the Ospreys defence, Jenkins got downward pressure.
The Ospreys responded through Callum Carson who hit a lovely line to score under the posts while Matthew Aubrey also crossed. Blues’ Jason Tovey and Luke Price kicked the rest.
Jenkins went off at half time with his team 26-14 up as both teams used large squads and made more than the usual eight substitutions.
Blues hooker Iestyn Harris was driven over for his team’s fifth, but his opposite number Dewi Lake responded immediately. Blues centre Harri Millard showed his pace to complete the scoring.