Jason Howell Jenkins (born 2 December 1995) is a South African

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 for

United Rugby Championship The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. For sponsorship reasons the league is known as the Vodacom United Rugby Championship in ...

and Champions Cup side

Sharks Sharks are a group of elasmobranch cartilaginous fish characterized by a ribless endoskeleton, dermal denticles, five to seven gill slits on each side, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the ...

. His regular position is lock, though he can also play in the back-row.

Career

2014

After completing high school at St. Alban's College in Pretoria, Jenkins joined the Academy. He established himself in the squad that participated in the

2014 Under-21 Provincial Championship The 2014 Under-21 Provincial Championship was a rugby union competition held between the Under-21 players from the fourteen provincial rugby unions in South Africa, plus the sub-union. It was contested from 11 July to 25 October 2014. Group A ...

, appearing in all fourteen of their matches in the competition and starting thirteen of those. He scored tries in their matches against the s and the s to help the Blue Bulls finish top of the log to qualify for the semi-finals. He helped the Blue Bulls to a 43–20 victory in their semi-final match against the Sharks U19s and he also started the final, where the Blue Bulls lost 26–33 to Western Province.

2015

In 2015, Jenkins was named in the squad for the

2015 Varsity Cup The 2015 Varsity Cup was contested from 9 February to 13 April 2015. The tournament (also known as the ''FNB Varsity Cup presented by Steinhoff International'' for sponsorship reasons) was the eighth season of the Varsity Cup, an annual inter-u ...

competition. He make one appearance, playing off the bench in a 63–8 victory over the . Jenkins was named in a 37-man South Africa Under-20 training squad and appeared for them as a replacement in a 31–24 victory in a friendly match against a Varsity Cup Dream Team that was named at the conclusion of the 2015 Varsity Cup competition. He was then named in their squad to tour

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

for a two-match series as preparation for the 2015 World Rugby Under 20 Championship. He started their 25–22 victory over

in the first match, as well as 39–28 win in the second match four days later. Upon the team's return, he was named in the final squad for the

2015 World Rugby Under 20 Championship The 2015 World Rugby Under 20 Championship was the eighth annual international rugby union competition for Under 20 national teams. The event was organised for the second time in Italy by rugby's governing body, World Rugby. Twelve nations played i ...

. He played in all three of their matches in Pool B of the competition; he played off the bench in a 33–5 win against hosts

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 ...

, before starting both their 40–8 win against

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

and their 46–13 win over

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. Jenkins also scored a try in each of the two matches that he started to help South Africa finish top of Pool B to qualify for the semi-finals with the best record pool stage of all the teams in the competition. He started their semi-final match against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, but could not prevent them losing 20–28 to be eliminated from the competition by England for the second year in succession. He started their third-place play-off match against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, scoring his third try of the competition to help South Africa to a 31–18 win to win the bronze medal. He then played for the s in the

2015 Under-21 Provincial Championship Group A The 2015 Under-21 Provincial Championship Group A was contested from 10 July to 24 October 2015. The competition (also known as the ''ABSA Under-21 Provincial Championship'' for sponsorship reasons) was the top tier of 2015 edition of the Under- ...

, but was also named in the senior squad for the

2015 Currie Cup Premier Division The 2015 Currie Cup Premier Division was the 77th season in the competition since it started in 1889 and was contested from 7 August to 24 October 2015. The tournament (known as the Absa Group Limited, Absa Currie Cup Premier Division for spon ...

South Africa 'A' and Springboks

In 2016, Jenkins was included in a South Africa 'A' squad that played a two-match series against a touring

England Saxons England A is England's men's second national rugby union team. The team has previously been known by a number of names, such as England B, Emerging England and, most recently, England Saxons. England A play a key role in the development of emerg ...

team. He didn't play in their first match in

Bloemfontein Bloemfontein ( ; ), also known as Bloem, is the capital and the largest city of the Free State (province), Free State province in South Africa. It is often, and has been traditionally, referred to as the country's "judicial capital", alongsi ...

, but started the second match of the series, a 26–29 defeat in

George George may refer to: Names * George (given name) * George (surname) People * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Papagheorghe, also known as Jorge / GEØRGE * George, stage name of Gior ...

. He made his Test debut for the senior

Springboks The South Africa national rugby union team, commonly known as the Springboks (colloquially the Boks, Bokke or Amabhokobhoko) is the country's national team governed by the South African Rugby Union. The Springboks play in green and gold jersey ...

on 2 June 2018 against

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 ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

at the age of 22 years.

Toyota Verblitz

He joined

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese

Top League Japan Rugby League One (), formerly known as the Top League (), is a rugby union competition in Japan. It is the highest level of professional rugby competition in the country. The Japan Rugby Football Union created the competition in 2003, by ...

side

Toyota Verblitz Toyota Verblitz is a Japanese rugby union team in the Japan Rugby League One. Verblitz is a portmanteau of ''verde'' (Italian, Spanish and Portuguese for 'green') and ''blitz'' (German for 'lightning'). The team is owned by Toyota Motor Corporat ...

for the 2017–18 season.

Munster

Jenkins joined Irish

and Champions Cup side

Munster Munster ( or ) is the largest of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the south west of the island. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" (). Following the Nor ...

on a one-year contract for the 2021–22 season, joining his former Bulls teammate

RG Snyman Rudolph Gerhardus Snyman (born 29 January 1995) is a South African rugby union player who plays as a lock for Irish United Rugby Championship club Leinster and the South Africa national team. Snyman was part of the South Africa team that won t ...

at the club. He made his senior competitive debut for the province in their 2021–22 Champions Cup round 2 fixture at home to French side

Castres Castres (; ''Castras'' in the Languedocian dialect, Languedocian dialect of Occitan language, Occitan) is the sole Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Tarn (department), Tarn Departments of France, department in the Occitania (adminis ...

on 18 December 2021, coming on as a replacement for Jean Kleyn in Munster's 19–13 victory. Jenkins endured a difficult start to his time with Munster, as shoulder, thigh and abdominal injuries restricted him to just one appearance for the province by the start of 2022. Jenkins returned from the run of injured to make his

debut for the province in their 51–22 home win against Italian side Benetton in round 14 on 25 March 2022, coming on as a 63rd minute replacement for Alex Kendellen.

Leinster

Jenkins joined

Leinster Leinster ( ; or ) is one of the four provinces of Ireland, in the southeast of Ireland. The modern province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige, which existed during Gaelic Ireland. Following the 12th-century ...

from the 2022–23 season. He played 39 matches in the URC and the Champions Cup in his two seasons at the club.

Sharks

Jenkins returned to South Africa for the 2024 URC season, joining the Sharks.

References

External links

* *
Munster ProfileURC Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jenkins, Jason South African rugby union players Living people 1995 births Rugby union players from Pretoria South African people of Welsh descent Blue Bulls players Bulls (rugby union) players Toyota Verblitz players Munster Rugby players Leinster Rugby players South Africa Under-20 international rugby union players South Africa international rugby union players South African expatriate rugby union players in Ireland Rugby union locks Alumni of St. Alban's College South African expatriate rugby union players in Japan 21st-century South African sportsmen Sharks (rugby union) players