It seems too simplistic to frame Jason Jenkins as just another brawny lock, although he fits the description. Even before being overpowered by La Rochelle in last season’s European final, Leinster had decided to dip into the Munster pool and fish out the biggest player they had. They knew what they needed.
At 6′8′', the former Springbok was seen as a player with an international flavour who could offset the imbalances that La Rochelle exposed. That thinking will be put to test in the coming weeks as the heavyweights of French rugby and, this week, South Africa come to Dublin.
In that sense, Saturday’s URC quarter-final against Sharks represents a similar challenge for Leinster to the one posed by La Rochelle in last year’s Champions Cup final.
Jenkins isn’t much bothered how he is framed. After a difficult, injury-hit year in Munster, where he spent too much time talking body-breakdown with his South African team-mate RG Snyman, Leinster is a brighter chapter.
Jenkins signed for Munster from Japan’s Toyota Verblitz in the summer of 2021 but he didn’t start for his new side until December. In a frustrating season, he played 10 times before the one-year contract expired.
This season Jenkins lined out nine times before tweaking a hamstring. But a try against Toulouse, his third for Leinster, has him back looking for more.
“I wanted to make an impact off the bench, make my mark,” he says. “I’d like to think I add value in that sense to the team. That being said, the secondrows we have here are world class, [such as] James Ryan and even a guy like Joe [McCarthy] and Brian Deeny coming through.
“I started off quite nicely getting into the system. I had a good run of eight or nine games and then I picked up the injury. I was out for about eight weeks and it took one or two games to build that momentum again.
“I’m really happy with how the season has gone. I’ve had about 16 games under the belt now so a good season in terms of gametime and I think I am growing more in confidence.”
Jenkins made his Test debut for the Springboks in the summer of 2018 against Wales in Washington. He was 22-years-old and might have expected it to be the beginning of a Test playing career.
That didn’t happen, although he was brought into the Springbok camp last November so that the coaches, including Leinster-bound Jacques Nienaber, could take a closer look.
He has not given up on that ambition entirely, although the prospect of playing in a World Cup this autumn in France against some of his Irish club mates is becoming less likely the more the year proceeds.
Last autumn Eben Etzebeth and Lood de Jager were picked as the Springbok starting secondrows to play against Ireland in Dublin with Franco Mostert on the bench.
“Obviously I would love to play for South Africa again, make a bigger mark there,” says Jenkins. “But it’s not my focus at all now. My focus is solely here and I think if I can keep performing at my best and we can keep doing well, that’s all I can do, and it’s up to selectors and coaches to make those decisions.
“For me it’s focusing on my game and not putting external pressure on myself in terms of that.”
Jenkins knows the Sharks game and has played against them numerous times. They also have big forwards and can vary their play between an attritional physical game and running the ball out wide, where they have pace.
There is also the frontrow of props Thomas du Toit and Ox Nche and hooker Bongi Mbonambi, with Etzebeth behind. One player Sharks will badly miss is influential captain Siya Kolisi.
The Springbok flanker recently had knee surgery in a bid to be fit for the Rugby World Cup in September. Kolisi suffered a partial tear to his anterior cruciate ligaments (ACL).
“Having played them [Sharks] a couple of times, and also watching how they played against Munster, they have a big pack of forwards and they have a strong set piece,” says Jenkins.
“They have a Springbok front row which is a big challenge come scrum-time and maul. They’ll definitely bring a big physical game and they have a high-line defence which is a different challenge in itself. We’ll do our homework on them and try to counter their challenges.”
When all are healthy, Jenkins, Ryan Baird, Joe McCarthy, Ross Molony, James Ryan and Brian Deeny form a full house of Leinster locks over a make-or-break three weeks.
And for the Springbok, the Champions Cup final could represent not only a conclusion but also a first.
“Ehm, that’s a good question,” said Jenkins when asked about his last final. “I don’t think I have been in a final.”
