Warren Gatland’s problem in his first two World Cups with Wales has been filling the final places in his squad. The coach has had to add players to make up the quota but with little more than a year to go before the tournament in Japan, his dilemma is likely to be who to leave out. No position better sums up the strength in depth he now enjoys than openside flanker.
A few years ago the retirement of Sam Warburton would have left Gatland clutching his prayer book, but although the 29-year-old’s leadership and calm practicality will need replacing, there are numerous options. It is as if the conveyor belt that used to churn out fly-halves in south Wales has been reconfigured to mass produce breakaways.
Ellis Jenkins is the successor to Warburton at Cardiff Blues and leads the side against champions Leinster at Arms Park in the opening round of the Pro 14. He was Wales’s co-captain in the summer, along with the second-row Cory Hill, helping a squad shorn of most of its 2017 Lions defeat South Africa in Washington before winning the two-Test series against Argentina.
Gatland chose two No 7s in the back row in the final Test against Argentina – Jenkins and Scarlets’ James Davies. He had given Justin Tipuric the summer off, was without the injured Josh Navidi and overlooked Wasps’ Thomas Young, one of the most effective players in the position in the Premiership.
“It will ultimately come down to who is playing the best,” says the 25-year-old Jenkins who, like Warburton, is effective over the ball, forcing turnovers with his quick‑thinking and strength. “It can only be a good thing that we are pushing each other because we all know we have to produce. I do not think it will come down to someone being left out because they are not playing well but because others are playing better. The way I have always seen it is that cream rises to the top.”
Jenkins has spent his senior career understudying Warburton. “Sam liked to lead by example and that is the way I approach it,” he says. “I always watched the way he conducted himself in and around training. He was the ultimate professional, an athlete who treated his body well. He went hard on the pitch and some of his performances were pretty special but he was also a top bloke.
“On my first training day as a senior with the Blues, he came straight up and introduced himself. ‘I’m Sam,’ he said, as I knew well but he would not have known me. ‘Hi,’ I replied in a squeaky voice. It was an impressive touch, something that has stuck with me.
“When I was first called into the Wales squad, as a replacement for Dan Lydiate the day before the squad left for New Zealand, we roomed together for a month. He is one of those that you would be hard‑pressed to find anyone who had a bad word to say about him. He will be missed, but it is about how you replace him. The hallmark of a good side is the quality of the players who are left out and that is where I think Wales are in a healthier position than we were in the last World Cup when injuries proved costly.”
Warburton was forced to retire because of repetitive injuries he sustained at the breakdown as he jostled for possession and was knocked out of the way. Jenkins is a player in the same mould but, while he accepts the need for the authorities to protect players by making law changes with welfare in mind, such as lowering the height for an acceptable tackle, he also urges caution.
“We have to protect players as much as we can, but it is a tough, confrontational game,” he says. “The reason people like watching it is because they see players doing things they cannot. There are serious injuries and World Rugby is bringing in law variations to protect players, but it is a full contact game and physicality is a big draw for a lot of people.
“There will be injuries and we have to try to reduce them without taking away from a fundamental part of the game, one I relish and a reason I chose rugby over football. Speak to most forwards and they will say the same. I hope common sense prevails because the red card Sergio Parisse [the Stade Français No 8] received last weekend was tough. I don’t see what else he could have done.
“I was on the field when Owen Williams suffered a serious spinal injury in 2014 [in a world club tens tournament in Singapore]. I still speak to him quite a bit and meet up with him. Seeing the way he has dealt with it not only makes you feel humble but forces you to realise when things are not going your way that there are worse things going on. Yes, injuries can overwhelm you, but a bit of perspective helps.”
