Defeats to Argentina, Samoa and New Zealand have been disappointing but Wales’ second half performance against the All Blacks showed what Warren Gatland’s side are capable of.
Scott Williams and Alex Cuthbert both crossed as Wales drew the second half with the World Champions but Jenkins believes they cannot afford to give sides a lead if they are to win games against the world’s best.
“There are no excuses for losing three games. Yes we came back on Saturday but we let the All Blacks get a 33-0 lead and I suppose it was too late to come back,” said the Toulon prop.
“We don’t like to make many excuses and we were beaten by the better team on the day. We know how good the All Blacks are but we were hit by a number of injuries early on and I thought Aaron Shingler and Scott Andrews did really well when they came on.
“This week again is one for us to look forward to. We know from the summer how good a team Australia are and we need to pick our game up this weekend to get that win.
“We want to get back out on that field and impose ourselves early doors.
“We’ve let teams get on top of us including Argentina and Samoa and then New Zealand got on top of us early doors so Saturday is about imposing our game on them in the first half.”
Wales met the Wallabies three times over the summer, slipping to three defeats but just nine points separated the sides over the course of the three games.
And Jenkins is desperate to end this autumn with a win against a side he and Wales know well.
“From that summer we were disappointed to lose the series but we’ve got a chance to put it right,” added Jenkins.
“We don’t like losing and Saturday is no different, we don’t want to go out there and lose a game.
“It’s a case of picking ourselves up. Obviously it’s the last week so we won’t do as much as maybe you’d do in the first three weeks but we’re looking to go into Saturday’s game looking to raise the intensity and take it to the Australians.”
After coming on as a replacement against New Zealand, Jenkins is relishing the chance to start against an Australian front row who have improved markedly after being dismantled by the French in Paris earlier this month.
“They did very well against England and they’ve got some quality boys coming through and we knew from the summer they are going to be tough in that area,” he argued.
“I’m looking forward to getting out there on Saturday if selected.”
Tickets are still available for the game with Australia priced at £60 from the WRU Ticket Store (St David’s Dewi Sant), via Ticketmaster (08442 777888 and www.ticketmaster.com) and Ticketline. (02920 230130 and www.ticketlineuk.com)
