Gareth Jenkins
| Full name | Gareth John James Jenkins | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | 11 September 1951 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Burry Port, Carmarthenshire, Wales | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Position(s) | Flanker | ||
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| Amateur team(s) | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Points) |
| 1968–77 | Llanelli RFC | () | |
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Correct as of 30 September 2007
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Correct as of 30 September 2007
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| Teams coached | |||
| Years | Team | ||
| 1982–2003 2003–2006 2006–2007 |
Llanelli Llanelli Scarlets Wales |
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Correct as of 30 September 2007
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Gareth John James Jenkins (born 11 September 1951) is a former Welsh rugby union rugby player, and former head coach of the Welsh national team. After a long and distinguished career at Llanelli RFC, Jenkins was appointed Wales coach in 2006, succeeding Mike Ruddock. He was sacked by the Welsh Rugby Union on 30 September 2007, following Wales' failure to qualify for the quarter-finals of the 2007 Rugby World Cup. He left the role with just six wins from twenty test matches.
Born in Burry Port, Jenkins played as a flanker for Llanelli RFC, Wales B side and the Barbarians. Jenkins also toured Japan with the Welsh national team in 1975, but was not capped. Jenkins coached both Llanelli RFC and the Llanelli Scarlets region from its inception until 2006 when he accepted the position as the coach for the Welsh national team.
Jenkins made 259 appearances for Llanelli RFC since his debut as a 17-year-old, before his career was cut short by injury at the age of 26. He was a member of the Llanelli team that famously beat New Zealand 9–3 at Stradey Park in 1972.
During his 24-year stint as coach of Llanelli RFC, he won thirteen Welsh Cup victories, a 1992–93 League and cup double (a first for a Welsh club) plus a win over the World Champion Australians in the same year. In 1998–99 and 2001–02 Llanelli won league titles and the newly formed regional side Llanelli Scarlets won the 2003 Celtic League Championship under his guidance. It was during this time he also led Llanelli to Heineken Cup semi-final places in 2000 and 2002. However, his team consistently fell just short in big games, notably in the Heineken Cup. He was also assistant coach of Wales during the 1993/94 season.
Jenkins was rejected when he applied for the job of coach to the Welsh national team in 2004, when he was seen as virtually the only serious candidate for the job. It was suggested that his insistence on bringing in his own backroom staff, who lacked the requisite experience and skill, cost him the job. Instead, the Welsh Rugby Union invited Mike Ruddock to apply for the post, even though he had not originally made himself available for the role. Ruddock subsequently coached the Welsh team to their first Grand Slam in 28 years.
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