Having taken on the top two teams in the world over the past two weekends, New Zealand and South Africa, defence coach Jenkins has been warning his players to expect much of the same kind of physical challenge.
“Any international game, you are expecting a physical encounter and Fiji are no different. If you look at the teams their players are in they are normally the stand-out players for physicality,” said Jenkins.
“We know that is a big part of their game and we know the off-loading aspect is another. It’s just up to us to manage it as best we can, and impose ourselves with our collisions.
“There are some exceptional bits of skill in their game that sometimes you aren’t going to be able to deal with. You have got to just get back as quick as you can and get back into the system.
“We were disappointed we lost against South Africa, but in terms of physicality it was a step in the right direction. There will be a lot of individual threats from Fiji, but as long as our system is right we’ll be able to deal with them.”
Having been beaten by both the All Blacks and Springboks there is pressure on the Six Nations champions to deliver a win. It is also a chance to deliver a psychological blow against one of Wales’ World Cup 2023 opponents.
“We’re missing a lot of player and so we have gone quite strong for Fiji. We’re looking to build on the performances we’ve had over the last two weeks and this becomes a massive game for us,” admitted Jenkins.
“In the past it was probably the one fixture where you could make 10 or more changes. But Fiji are a good team in their own right, we know how much they have improved and we aren’t underestimating what they are going to bring.”
Jenkins was a world class player and is now cutting his teeth as an international coach. Having won three Grand Slams and a fourth Six Nations title as a player, he helped to deliver a team title in this year’s Six Nations.
“I’m under no illusions, I’m still learning every day. Probably the biggest thing for me is the change from week-in, week-out rugby to 16, 17 weeks a year where you are prepping for the international games,” he added.
“I obviously do stuff outside of that, but the main buzz of the job is when you get into Test week. I’m really enjoying it.
“We’ve got a good group of coaches and I am enjoying working with all the players. I’m trying to get them to progress, as well as trying to learn myself from people around me and from the experiences on a match day.”
