Posted by In a fair world Ellis Jenkins is currently on 60 Wales caps, is probably the captain of his country, and is pushing to join the 200 Club for Cardiff having been the cornerstone of the club for a decade.
Unfortunately life, particularly when it involves professional rugby, is very rarely fair.
Jenkins’ career path is one that we are all familiar with by now, watching the injury picked up against South Africa in November 2018 and the two-and-a-half year battle to get back on the field, culminating in a quite incredible return to the international arena during the 2021/22 season.
Rumours have persisted since then though that all is still not right with the flanker’s knee, with a lack of sustained game time noticeable. It still remains to be seen whether the 30-year-old’s professional playing career will extend beyond this summer.
What isn’t questioned though is the quality of the player despite the trials and tribulations of his career, a point very much underlined by a 50-minute performance against Munster on the weekend that was a veritable smorgasbord of everything good about Ellis Jenkins the rugby player. A greatest hits collection from one of the best to pull on a Blue & Black jersey.
Jenkins has always had that classic openside flanker trait of being an excellent link player in attack, even if it has been a somewhat underrated part of his game. He’s a good athlete, but unlike the jinking Martyn Williams, pacey Thomas Young or powerful Jac Morgan he doesn’t have that standout athletic trait that people notice.
What he does have though is unbelievable vision, anticipation and game-reading skills that more often than not put him in the right place at the right time.
If he’s not winning a turnover the likelihood is that he’ll be involved in the counter attack somewhere, while his ability to pop up on the shoulder of a line break or link a phase from scrum-half has been all-important to plenty of tries over the year.
And it’s that ability to read the game and make decisions at speed that was a common thread running through a performance on Saturday where he was one of Cardiff’s best attacking players, but also the key man in a huge first half defensive showing.
Cardiff made 65 tackles in the first half, and missed just five, as we restricted a strong Munster side to just three points in 40 minutes at Thomond Park. A magnificent effort that was led by the multiple Ellis Jenkins that were lined up right across the field. At least that’s how it felt.
His kick chasing and scragging were impressive, but his spot blitzing was even better with some spot on reads leading to big turnovers in midfield. That’s exactly what you want from a senior member of the team in such an important position.
It’s no surprise that the likes of Alex Mann and Mackenzie Martin had great games when playing alongside someone who is such a good communicator on the field, and then backs that up by leading by example too. And, of course, Jenkins could not resist getting involved in the turnover stats.
The jackal turnover in particular is such quintessential Ellis Jenkins play you’d think it was AI generated. The timing of the breakdown arrival, the athleticism to come in almost side on and slide straight over the ball, and the strength to survive the clear out is textbook stuff.
If they ever build a statue of him in Llantwit Fardre, it should be in this jackal position.
All-in-all it was a masterclass of a 50-minute showing from Jenkins in Thomond Park on Saturday night. A performance that rolled back the years and the injuries to a time when “Simba” had the world at his feet, as well as a reminder of the top player and leader that he still is now.
Whatever happens next in his journey, he’ll always be a Cardiff Rugby legend.
Cardiff Rugby Life 