Lock on a daunting Six Nations, handling injury, why Welsh players should play in the Premiership and family pressure. The Six Nations is no place for the weak or the meek. Particularly not on a frantic Friday evening in Paris when Wales, last year’s wooden spoonists, have to enter the bubbling cauldron of the Stade de France. The pumped-up hosts will be scenting dragon’s blood and the task awaiting the visiting pack will be formidable in anybody’s language.
![[Robert Kitson]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/uploads/2017/10/09/Robert-Kitson,-L.png?width=75&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Cometh the hour, cometh the hard men. It is the reason why Dafydd Jenkins, the lock who became the youngest captain in Six Nations history last season, believes age matters less than attitude. “There’s pressure but if you can’t handle that you shouldn’t be there,” murmurs the 22-year-old. When the going gets tough, Jenkins is the type of player who relishes the battle even more.
![[Dafydd Jenkins of Wales competes in the lineout against Australia in July 2024]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/3b621b0a4ee4f71cbb1adefbfdb83605fae5c354/0_133_4954_2974/master/4954.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Luckily, the fiercely committed Exeter captain, now in the final year of a sports science degree at the University of Exeter, also has a seriously high pain threshold. If you are squeamish and wonder about the stoicism needed to play top-level rugby this may be a good time to skip a paragraph or two. “Last season my kneecap kept dislocating … it probably happened 10 times. You’ve just got to slap it back in and get on with it.”.
![[Wales’ second-row Dafydd Jenkins juggles three balls during the captain’s run training in Brisbane in July 2024]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/351b80ed713f24f141a7c00b27966b8a3cb8a416/0_406_6000_3600/master/6000.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Blimey. Successful patella tendon surgery last summer has fixed the problem but a concurrent shoulder operation has been taking longer to overcome. “My shoulder’s still giving me a bit of gyp. It’s hard when you’re trying to whack people week in, week out.”.
