Dafydd Jenkins reacts to Wales defeat to Ireland: "I am not playing the game to lose"
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Despite not stopping Ireland from claiming their 14th Triple Crown on Saturday, Wales played their best game since the 2023 Rugby World Cup where they played Georgia as interim boss Matt Sherratt has brought back belief into Welsh Rugby.
With former head coach, Warren Gatland departing between the Italy and Ireland game, Sherratt who admitted to having only four sessions with the Welsh squad has vastly improved them. In the cauldron of the Principality Stadium, it seemed like for the first time in a while that Cardiff was rocking again and that was apparent when it came to Anthem time when 'Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau' was belted out.
Find your local Greene King and settle in for the 2025 Six Nations!
Wales went in at the break 13-10 up and left many Welsh fans with a sense of optimism with what the final 40 minutes would hold when the players headed for their half time orange (other fruits are available). However they fell to their 15th consecutive test defeat and still have been starved of a Test victory since 2023. But the question is now whether Wales can replicate that performance against Scotland in two weeks time.
Interim head coach, Sherratt asked for ambition and emotion from his squad and they delivered in abundance. One of the many players who stepped up and delivered for the whole 80 minutes was former Wales captain, Dafydd Jenkins who had a solid performance after missing the Italian encounter due to illness.
"We're obviously disappointed with the result," said 22-year-old Jenkins.
"It's never nice losing, especially in your home stadium, but there were some real positives in that performance.
"The boys have picked up our new shape, and that's something we can really look forward to getting better at moving forward. We're going to work hard to make sure we come out the other side of results, because it is all about results.
"We understand it is not just going to fall into place for us, we are going to have to work extremely hard. The Six Nations is a very competitive competition.
"But Ireland are one of the top teams in the world and if we are competing with them we are in a good place at the moment. The learnings we have taken individually and as a team are going to be huge for us."
Unlike before the other two away trips in this year's Six Nations there is a sense of real optimism and Jenkins is looking forward to his task against Scotland in two weeks time at Murrayfield.
"I am not playing the game to lose, I promise you that, and if we didn't believe in this group of players, there would be no point going out on the pitch.
"There is confidence in terms of the way we played and just listening to how the crowd were, I think they all saw that as well. We really wanted to show the crowd how much we wanted it in terms of our emotion and how proud we are to play for Wales.
"I hope we did that. There were some difficult conversations last year, but we are just pushing to move forward."
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QUIZ: Can You Name the England XV that Won the 2020 Six Nations?
England last won the Six Nations in 2020, in what was a crowning achievement during the Eddie Jones era. Coming off the back of the 2019 Rugby World Cup Final heartbreak, England bounced back to win their seventh Six Nations title since the competition’s Italian expansion in 2000.
England secured the trophy with a win in Rome, as they handed Italy a one-sided 34-5 bonus point defeat. We are challenging you to remember who started for England that day, as the match was played in front of an empty stadium during the Covid-19 Pandemic.
You have five minutes to provide your answers, good luck!
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