Jenkins looking to continue strong form for club and country

Dafydd Jenkins has been a standout performer for Exeter Chiefs and Wales recently, but the lock feels he is far from the player he would like to be.

Summer signing and Wallabies star Len Ikitau picked out Jenkins as one of his most impressive new teammates recently. The Welshman achieved an 87.5% tackle success rate in the Quilter Nations Series before putting in a man of the match performance in his return to Chiefs colours against Sale Sharks.

Jenkins said: “It’s nice to hear things like that from your teammates but the way I look at it, I’m meant to be doing that, it’s my job.

“When you’re younger thinking about playing in teams like this, you don’t just want to be in the set up, you want to be one of the best players.

“It’s all about striving to keep getting better and better. I’m definitely nowhere near the player I want to be yet, hopefully I can just keep pushing myself.”

The 6ft 6’ forward has certainly had opportunity to strive to push his game forward this season as Chiefs have enjoyed a strong start to the domestic and European season – five wins in the Prem alongside a win and a draw in the EPCR Challenge Cup.

Jenkins said: “It [the positive start] is a combination of a lot of things really. Getting a good pre-season under the belt was probably the catalyst of it all. The boys got beasted, and that always puts the team in a good spot. The addition of the new signings has helped out loads and some of the older boys hitting good form has helped too.

“The new boys are class personalities to have around and that normally results in good chemistry on the pitch. They’re all great people and we’re very lucky to have them all here.”

One of the arrivals Jenkins has had to spend prolonged time with is Italian international, and 6ft 9in lock, Andrea Zambonin. The pair have featured in all but one PREM game together this season, proving lethal at set piece and in the defensive line.

Jenkins explained: “He’s very good, a really smart rugby player. I didn’t realise how young he was, he’s got a good future ahead of him. I’m sure we can continue to work on our on-pitch combination. He’s class to have as a lineout option, that’s probably his point of difference, and he’s good around the park as well.”

While their duo work in the boiler room is impressive, as a leader and the quintessential workhorse, Jenkins often takes a lot of the individual accolades. When asked about how that feels to receive however, the 23-year-old immediately turns the discussion back to the team as a whole.

Jenkins said: “It’s a huge honour to lead the boys, but I know that I’ve got to play well first so that’s the main thing that I try to focus on. It’s class playing with boys that you looked up to when you were younger and just being involved in such a good group.

“The games all come around so quickly that you don’t really get time to look back or reflect too hard on yourself as an individual. Of course, you want to get better every week and improve, but you don’t really focus on the outside noise.”

Plenty noise was generated when Jenkins was named in the Welsh autumn squad alongside former Chiefs teammates Joe Hawkins and Danny Southworth, the latter gaining his first exposure to international rugby.

Jenkins said: “It was class. Danny took a different route to the conventional one but he’s just as deserving as anyone else to be there.

“It’s always good for me personally to have really close mates in the set up. Joe’s been in the group before, but the work he did here at Chiefs before going back to Wales, I think he’s a better player for it. It’s an unbelievable feeling playing international rugby with those boys.”

Currently, however, Jenkins’ focus has returned firmly to leading his Chiefs teammates. This weekend, the task is Leicester Tigers at a sold-out Sandy Park but with the strength with which Chiefs have started the domestic season, the young Welshman firmly believes progression and success is a real possibility in 2026.

Jenkins said: “I think the prospect of what we could achieve is huge and it’s a big reason why the boys are choosing to sign longer contracts, because they want to be involved in such a special group going forward. I know personally that I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.

“I think when we win silverware with this group, it’s going to be special because we’re so close, we’ve gone through tough times and grown into adulthood together as well. A lot of us came here in academy years, just finding our feet and now you count a lot of the boys as your best mates.”