Tyro Chief Jenkins hungry for more after stellar debut season
EXETER Chiefs may have failed to qualify for the Premiership play-offs for the first time in seven seasons, but there has been no malfunction in the production line at Sandy Park.
The 19-year-old second row, Dafydd Jenkins, is one of the players who have been promoted ahead of schedule because of injuries and international call-ups and made 10 appearances in all competitions.
“My aim at the start of the season was to make my debut but I did not think it would go as well as it has,” said the 6ft 7ins Jenkins, who has been part of Wales’s U20 squad for the last two years.
“I have to keep pushing forward. I want to play in more matches next season and help the club win trophies. You can only learn at a club like Exeter: the second rows are unbelievable and the coaches are the best I have experienced. Every training session is intense and it is a special place.”
Jenkins is studying sports science at the University of Exeter and will continue his studies next season even though, with
Jonny Hill and Sam Skinner leaving the Chiefs, he is likely to be involved in more matches.
“Rugby is full on,” he admitted. “We tend to finish at 4pm, then I go home to hit the books but often fall asleep. The season has been disappointing in that it ended early, but I look at it as a positive because players like Patrick Schickerling and Josh Hodge have stepped up.”
Jenkins has been playing rugby since he was five, spurred on by his parents. His father, Hywel, was a back rower for Llanelli, Swansea and Neath whose one appearance for Wales was a non-cap international against the United States.
“My dad has had a massive influence on my career,” said Jenkins. “He did not achieve what he wanted to in his career and wants me to succeed where he did not. I would not be where I am now without my mum who drove me everywhere.”
Hywel Jenkins played at a time when Welsh had a club system at professional level and rivalries were fierce. That has been heavily diluted in the professional era, but England’s Premiership evokes what used to be in Wales.
“My dad tells me of the huge crowds he played in front of in club matches and there is nothing better for a player than to be able to soak up the atmosphere. Sadly, it is not there in Wales at the moment and it was one of the key drivers behind me joining Exeter.”
Jenkins is one of four Wales U20 players at Exeter, along with Ollie Burrows, Christ Tshiunza and Dan John.
“Having other Welsh players here was a factor in my signing,” said Jenkins.
“We have a good group of players here and we want to make Sandy Park a horrible place for opposition teams to visit. We want to be able to bully teams, something that was drilled to me as a kid every Sunday morning with my dad screaming from the touchline.”