Jenkins: Wales ready to go
Wednesday 11 February 2015 22:08, UK
Gethin Jenkins says Wales ‘have not become a bad team overnight’ following their defeat by England in Cardiff last Friday.
The prop admits that the 21-16 defeat at the Millennium Stadium was tough to take, but says the Welsh squad have recovered mentally from that setback and are now looking towards the future, with a trip to Murrayfield next on the agenda this weekend.
This Sunday’s international against Scotland in Edinburgh will be the 50th Six Nations match for Jenkins and he is chomping at the bit to get out on the field again: "It's been a tough few days after the (England) game.
"I think everyone has had a bit of time so we could think about where we went wrong and what we need to do to put it right for this week.
"We need to put it to bed now and look ahead to Scotland and concentrate on getting our first win on the board.
"We won't know if we have sorted it out until the game at the weekend.
"We haven't lost to a bad team. England is a good team. Every time we play them it's nip and tuck and comes down to the last 10 or 15 minutes.
"We haven't become a bad team overnight by losing to them. It's a brutal championship.
"Every game is like a cup final, and we can take a bit of confidence from that. We want to put things right and get a win on the board."
So what went wrong against England in the opening encounter of the 2015 Six Nations Championship?
Jenkins added: "A lot of scrums went down, a lot of them weren't stable. Two decisions went against me, and we got two back against them.
"It's frustrating the scrum is not stable and we haven't actually got a platform to push against each other.
"There is a lot of chat out there and behind the scenes from referees on what they want and are looking for, so we are trying our best to get to that level.”
And what about their next opponents Scotland who were beaten by France in Paris on Saturday?
Jenkins went on: "It's never easy against France at home. They have a big pack and a big driving game with new half-backs.
"Scotland stood up to them, put their bodies on the line and they will take confidence into this weekend."
