Wales suffered defeat at the hands of the All Blacks last weekend and life doesn’t get any easier with the world champion Springboks coming to town.
But Jenkins is confident Wales can bounce back against Jacques Nienaber’s side provided they maintain a high level of performance for the full 80 minutes.
“Against South Africa we need to be playing for the full 80 minutes because they will be no different to New Zealand,” Jenkins said.
“They play a different way, but they can be very ruthless and efficient in what they do.
“We certainly need to be ready. They play a certain type of rugby. It’s an effective type of rugby, but we need to be effective in the way we go about things and try and exert our own pressure on them.
“If we possibly can, we need to exert our kicking game on them as well. There will be a lot of aerial bombardments I am sure.
“There certainly will be from them and there will be a few from us as well. The battle of the air is huge in today’s rugby and you need to come out on the right side of it to win.”
Wales have won four out of their last five Test matches against South Africa and have a strong record against them in Cardiff.
Former Wales playmaker Jenkins has warned his side they will have to front up physically to stand a chance.
“Saturday is a fantastic opportunity for us to play against one of the best sides, if not the best side, in the world,” Jenkins said. “It’s another tough Test match for us and we need to front up.
“We know it’ll be a big challenge on Saturday and there is no doubting that. South Africa are so physical and confrontational.
“Their set-piece is exceptional, their aerial game is superb, and their defence and kicking is very good too. They’re one of the best sides for a reason so it’s a good challenge for us.
“But we’ve had a good run of results against them and Saturday is a different game. We’re at home, we want to perform and win, and there is no other way about it.
“We need to up our game from last Saturday, especially in that last 20 minutes. It’s an 80-minute game and we need to show that.”
Jenkins has been involved with Wales for almost 30 years both as a player and a coach.
In that time he has experienced many highs and lows and he admits the prospect of facing another southern hemisphere giant still gets the juices flowing.
“I just love being involved with Wales,” he said. “I see it as a challenge to come in year in, year out and put myself up against the best.
“It’s the All Blacks, South Africa, Fiji and Australia this autumn. It’s a fantastic challenge in the area I’m involved in.
“I love being involved and around the boys. It keeps me going.
“I especially love being involved against South Africa because you know it’s always going to be very tough and very physical.
“The game changes over time, but they’re probably gone back to their strengths of old in recent years.”
