Gethin Jenkins says he has returned to the Wales stage a better coach after spending the last two years at club level with Cardiff.
The former Wales and British and Irish Lions prop will be in charge of the defence as Matt Sherratt’s side attempt to end a run of 17 Test defeats – a record for a tier one nation – in Japan next month.
Jenkins has linked up with his Cardiff boss Sherratt, who resumes the role of interim head coach after replacing Warren Gatland during the Six Nations Championship, to become involved in a Wales coaching capacity for the second time.
The 44-year-old was in the Wales set-up between 2020 and 2022 and held the defence coach role under Wayne Pivac before being deemed surplus to requirements when Gatland returned for a second spell in charge.
Jenkins said: “I’ve learned a lot going back to Cardiff under Matt and other coaches there.
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“Working week-in, week-out, at a club or region gives you more of a grounding.
“Going straight into it at national level is quite tough. It was enjoyable because of the buzz of coaching your country, the pressure of international games. No bigger feeling.
“I’m taking things on board all the time in how I progress myself as a coach.
“I’m seven years into my coaching career, which is still not a lot, so I like to think I’m learning all the time.”
Jenkins won 129 caps for Wales, the country’s second most-capped men’s player, and made five Test appearances for the Lions – playing in the 2005, 2009 and 2013 series – during a stellar career.
He joins former Wales and Lions team-mates Adam Jones (scrum coach) and Leigh Halfpenny (skills coach), as well as Harlequins boss Danny Wilson (forwards coach) and Rhys Thomas (assistant forwards coach) on Sherratt’s coaching staff for a two-Test series in the Far East.
“It was something I had to think about,” Jenkins said of his Wales return. “Matt asked me in Cardiff when we were walking for a coffee between sessions.
“The people that were doing it was probably the main attraction, with Matt leading it. It’s hard to turn down that opportunity.
“Five or six weeks where you put everything into it that you can. Go back to Cardiff and then it’s business as usual.
“The only thing I’m giving up is my time off in the summer. I have had to change a few bits otherwise I would have been divorced!”
Wales’ losing streak stretches back to the 2023 World Cup in France, and Jenkins admits the coaching staff have had to hit the ground running.
He said: “It’s been an enjoyable two-and-a-half weeks, the boys have worked hard.
“It’s a good challenge in such a short space of time putting together a game plan. The plan is to go out to Japan and get some victories.”
