Dafydd Jenkins (born 5 December 2002) is a Welsh professional

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player who plays as a

lock Lock(s) or Locked may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainme ...

for

Premiership Rugby Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition, consisting of 10 clubs, and is the top division of the English rugby ...

club

Exeter Chiefs Exeter Chiefs (officially Exeter Rugby Club) is an England, English professional rugby union club based in Exeter, Devon. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1871 and since 2006 has played i ...

and has captained the Wales national team.

Club career

Born in Bridgend, Jenkins began playing rugby for

Porthcawl RFC Porthcawl Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union team based in Porthcawl, Wales. The club is a member of the Welsh Rugby Union and is a feeder club for the Ospreys. Porthcawl presently field a First XV team, Second XV, Women's XV, Youth XV ...

juniors, where he progressed through the age groups. Jenkins attended Porthcawl Comprehensive School before transferring to Hartpury College, where he also played rugby. Prior to leaving Wales, Jenkins was part of the

Ospreys The osprey (; ''Pandion haliaetus''), historically known as sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor, reaching more than in length and a wingspan of . It is ...

academy. While playing for Hartpury, Jenkins was contacted by Exeter head coach

Rob Baxter Robert Edward John Baxter (born 10 March 1971) is the Director of Rugby of English Premiership rugby team Exeter Chiefs. He previously played for the club for 14 years, 10 of them as captain. Baxter has also both captained and coached the Ba ...

, and he linked up with their team in 2021. Jenkins studies sports sciences at the

University of Exeter The University of Exeter is a research university in the West Country of England, with its main campus in Exeter, Devon. Its predecessor institutions, St Luke's College, Exeter School of Science, Exeter School of Art, and the Camborne School of ...

. He has played for their rugby team in the

BUCS Super Rugby BUCS Super Rugby is the highest level of men's and women's university rugby union in the United Kingdom and a potential pathway for university players into professional rugby. It comprises ten teams from universities in England and Wales. The ...

tournament, and was named man of the match when Exeter won the tournament, defeating

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city in north east England **County Durham, a ceremonial county which includes Durham *Durham, North Carolina, a city in North Carolina, United States Durham may also refer to: Places ...

14–13, scoring a try in the final. On 13 November 2021, Jenkins made his

debut in the

Premiership Rugby Cup The Premiership Rugby Cup is an English rugby union knockout cup competition for teams in Premiership Rugby and from the 2023–24 season the RFU Championship. It was created in 2018 to replace the Anglo-Welsh Cup after the withdrawal of the Wels ...

defeat to

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

. On 15 January 2022, Jenkins appeared as a replacement in the Champions Cup victory over

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

. Jenkins first Premiership start came in the Round 15 defeat to

Wasps A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. Th ...

on 5 February 2022. On 12 November 2022, Jenkins set the Premiership record as youngest player named captain, at 19 years and 342 days old, in a victory over

London Irish London Irish RFC is a professional rugby union club that most recently competed in the Premiership Rugby, Premiership, the top division of rugby union in England. The club also participated in the European Rugby Champions Cup, European Champion ...

International career

Jenkins was called up to the Wales under-20 squad for the first time ahead of the

2021 Six Nations Under 20s Championship The 2021 Six Nations Under 20s Championship was the 14th series of the Six Nations Under 20s Championship, the annual northern hemisphere rugby union championship. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic all the matches were played at Cardiff Arms Park, Car ...

, making his debut in the 25–8 victory over

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. On 28 January 2022, Jenkins was again called into the Wales under-20 squad for the upcoming

2022 Six Nations Under 20s Championship The 2022 Six Nations Under 20s Championship is the 15th Six Nations Under 20s Championship, the annual northern hemisphere rugby union championship contested by the under-20 national teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. En ...

. On 14 November 2022, Jenkins was called up for

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

as injury cover in the 2022 Autumn Internationals. Jenkins made his international debut on 19 November 2022, coming off the bench against

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. On 17 January 2023, Jenkins was named in the Wales squad for the

2023 Six Nations Championship The men's 2023 Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Six Nations for sponsorship reasons) was the 24th Six Nations Championship, an annual rugby union competition contested by the men's national teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy ...

. He made his Six Nations debut on 4 February 2023, coming off the bench against Ireland. The following week, Jenkins made his first start for Wales, against Scotland. On 16th January, 2024, in the absence of

Jac Morgan Jac Morgan (born 21 January 2000) is a Welsh rugby union player, who plays in the backrow for the Ospreys and Wales. He is the current captain of the Wales national rugby union team. Early life Jac Morgan was born in Sketty, Swansea, an ...

through injury, Jenkins was named captain of the Wales squad for the

2024 Six Nations Championship The 2024 Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Men's Six Nations for sponsorship reasons) was a rugby union competition that took place in February and March 2024, and featured the men's national teams of England national rugby union tea ...

. In his debut as captain, Wales lost 26-27 in their opening game of the tournament. Despite losing, their performance was praised having come back from being 27-0 down.

Personal life

Jenkins is the son of Hywel Jenkins, who played as a back row for

Swansea Swansea ( ; ) is a coastal City status in the United Kingdom, city and the List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, second-largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of ...

Neath Neath (; ) is a market town and Community (Wales), community situated in the Neath Port Talbot, Neath Port Talbot County Borough, Wales. The town had a population of 50,658 in 2011. The community of the parish of Neath had a population of 19,2 ...

and

London Welsh London Welsh Rugby Football Club () was a rugby union club formed in 1885. Based in Old Deer Park, Richmond-upon-Thames, London Welsh RFC played in the English Premiership in the 2012–13 and 2014–15 seasons, after gaining promotion from ...

. Hywel represented

Wales A Wales A, also known as Wales Dragonhearts, is an amateur international rugby league side that competed in the Amateur Four Nations. The players are picked from the Conference League South clubs and from the domestic competition the South Wal ...

and Wales in an uncapped match against the United States, but did not earn a full senior cap.

References

External links

*
Dafydd Jenkins
at

Welsh Rugby Union The Welsh Rugby Union (WRU; ) is the governing body of rugby union in the country of Wales, recognised by the sport's international governing body, World Rugby. The WRU is responsible for the running of rugby in Wales, overseeing 320 member clu ...

Exeter profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jenkins, Dafydd 2002 births Living people Rugby union locks Exeter Chiefs players People educated at Porthcawl Comprehensive School Alumni of Hartpury College Alumni of the University of Exeter Welsh rugby union players Rugby union players from Bridgend Wales international rugby union players 2023 Rugby World Cup players 21st-century Welsh sportsmen