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Ellis playing it cool

Ellis playing it cool

Ellis Jenkins says his unbeaten side won’t be getting carried away despite topping the Under 20 Six Nations table.

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A hugely impressive 13-27 win for Wales Under 20 over France at the Stade Marcel Michelin, Clermont Ferrand, followed a home win over Ireland and with two games played, things couldn’t have gone much better for Danny Wilson’s men. 

Sion Bennett, Cory Allen and Rhodri Williams all crossed the white wash as Wales’ attacking game fired against les Bleus.

But despite being two points clear of England in second place, No. 8 Jenkins says his side know just how difficult their remaining fixtures will be.

“We’re top of the table at the moment but we’ve got a tough game now against Italy away, they ran us really close last year,” said the Wales skipper.

“Scotland have beaten Italy and we have to go to Inverness to play them and then of course we’ve got England at home. We’re just taking each game as it comes.

“The boys are grounded. It was a great win in France but if we don’t go out and get the victory next week it will have been a waste of time.”

In front of a hostile crowd of nearly 12,000, Wales handled the atmosphere brilliantly, silencing the home fans with a couple of early tries.

And despite losing both Nicky Smith and Gareth Thomas to yellow cards after half time, Wales held on for a fairly comfortable victory.

“We had a decent performance against Ireland in the first week and to go away to France and get the victory is brilliant for us really,” Jenkins added.

“As the stadium was filling up there was lots of noise and during the French anthem you couldn’t hear yourself think.

“But we responded really well and silenced the crowd with two early tries.

“The boys dealt with the pressure really well and we’ll learn from the experience of playing in front of a crowd like that.”

Jenkins and fellow back rower Daniel Thomas were two of Wales’ standout performers, marshalling the defensive line and dominating at the breakdown.

But after missing one or two chances in attack against Ireland, Jenkins admitted it was pleasing to see his side run in a few scores.

“It’s always nice to score tries. Our defence has been saving us so far but it can only do that for so long,” said the Cardiff Blues man.

“We worked hard in training on our attack as it wasn’t as good as our defence against Ireland and it was a much improved performance from us.

“We stuck to our game plan really well, piled the pressure on and took our chances when we got them.

“There’s a good atmosphere in the squad and it’s a good place to be at the moment.”

Tickets are being snapped up for Wales Under 20’s remaining home game, against England at Eirias, Colwyn Bay on March 15 (7.35). They are currently available from the following outlets:

Colwyn Leisure Centre: 01492 577900 or to personal callers at Colwyn Bay Lesuire centre, Eirias Road, Colwyn Bay, LL29 7SP

Venue Cymru: 01492 872000 or to personal callers at Venue Cymru, Y Promenad, Llandudno, LL30 1BB

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