Neil Jenkins, the 87-times capped Wales and four-times capped British and Irish Lions fly-half and former World Record holding points scorer, has backed the WRU’s decision to award full honours for the Barbarians’ visit to the Millennium Stadium on Saturday 4th June.
Jenkins, who played his final match and made his 100th appearance in a Wales shirt against the Baa-baas at Millennium Stadium in 2003, also won one of his full international caps against the world famous invitation side – in the 31 -10 win at the Millennium Stadium in 1996.
The current national squad skills coach, the man who was the first in history to reach 1,000 Test points, has welcomed the decision to award caps for this historic fixture but also insists the clash would be regarded as a full on Test match by Wales’ coaching staff and players regardless of the news.
“This is our next Test match and a great opportunity for the players to eradicate the memory of losing in France on that final weekend of the Six Nations,” said Jenkins, who also faced the Barbarians in 2001 in a non-capped match – Wales lost 38-40 on a day Jenks was replaced at fly-half from the bench by a young Gavin Henson.
“We would have a long time to wait until August to continue our World Cup preparations without this game and we will be looking for a win and a good win at that.
“The Barbarians present an entirely different challenge, they have a long and illustrious history and awarding caps for the match in the WRU’s 130th year is a great way to show our respect for that history.
“I played for the Barbarians six times myself and against them on three occasions, once in that capped match in ’96, a hard fought loss in ’01 and in my final game in ’03 and I wouldn’t have missed any of them. The win in ’96 in particular meant everything to us at that time.”
Jenkins played for the Baa-baas six times; against Ireland in Dublin, Scotland at Murrayfield, South Africa in Cardiff, Leicester Tigers twice – at Leicester and Twickenham – and Newport at Rodney Parade. He was on the losing side on just two occasions, against the Springboks and in the Tigers match at Welford Rd.
Wales have lined up against the famous black and white hoops on six occasions losing four times and winning just twice – when Jenkins played in 1996 and in the last outing in 2004. The other capped international against the Barbarians was Wales’ first in 1990, which the Baa-baas won 31-24.
“When you play for the Barbarians there is a different atmosphere, you prepare in a different way,” said Jenkins.
“The build up is more relaxed, you’ll have a couple of training sessions but you’ll get to know each other in that week leading up to the game and won’t do the same physical work the international side will do.
“It’s more reminiscent of how you might prepare for a match in your younger days at school or for your local club, you are relying on your own skill and the talents of those around you on a match-day to win the game.
“But the difference is that the talents of those around you are the honed talents of some of the best international players in world rugby. You are going out there to enjoy yourselves and entertain the crowd, but you are all winners so enjoying yourself means you want to win.
“The Baa-baas have won all over the world playing like this, sometimes when you can relax in this way it brings out the best in rugby players and the games can be quite something to watch.
“There is no doubt that this Wales team will have to be right at the top of their game to win this match, with some of the top names in world rugby already on the Baa-baas team sheet, and nothing less than a win is going to be good enough for us either.
“There can be similarities with the Barbarians and some of the South Sea Island teams, they can throw off the shackles sometimes and come at you and we will have to be ready for that with both Samoa and Fiji in our World Cup group.
“So this game will be great preparation for us, caps or no caps, it’s a major Test match it’s a simple as that and we will be desperate to get a result.
“Maybe there is an argument to say we should have consistency going forward, that the games should all be capped or none of them should, but all I know is I’ve got 87 caps and I’ve enjoyed both playing for and against the Baa-baas in some great games in my career.
“I’ve no desire to be handed any more retrospectively, but I won’t be giving any back either!”
Tickets remaining for the summer RWC warm-up fixtures against the Barbarians and England at the Millennium Stadium are priced at £40 and £30 for adults, £100 for a family ticket (2 adults 2 children) for the Baa Baas game and £110 family ticket for the England match, with a new category introduced this season of £15 for the under 18s enclosure.
The final game on homes soil against Argentina is priced at £30 and £20 for adults, £70 for a family of four and £15 for the under 18s enclosure.
Tickets can be purchased online at www.wru.co.uk/tickets or by calling the ticket hotline 08442 777 888.
Fixtures:
Sat 4 June 2011 – Wales v Barbarians, Millennium Stadium (KO tba)
Sat 13 Aug 2011 – Wales v England, Millennium Stadium (KO 2.30pm)
Sat 20 Aug 2011 – Wales v Argentina, Millennium Stadium (KO tba)
Wales v Barbarians: Full record
Wales 24-31 Barbarians, Cardiff Arms Park, 06-10-90 L CAPPED
Wales 31-10 Barbarians, Cardiff Arms Park, 24-08-96 W CAPPED
Wales 38-40 Barbarians, Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, 20-05-01 L
Wales 25-40 Barbarians, Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, 29-05-02 L
Wales 35-48 Barbarians, Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, 31-05-03 L
Wales 42-0 Barbarians, Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, 26-05-04 W
