A trip to Rome is first up for Wales in 2017 and with no fresh injury concerns to report, Howley’s men are looking for a fast start.
“Everyone is fine – we are looking forward to the game,” said former fly-half Jenkins. “It has seemed like a long fortnight. We havem’t played since November. We are expecting a very tough challenge. It is never any different here.”
Jenkins was speaking following a training session in which Wales’ kickers got a feel for conditions in the Italian capital. Under head coach Conor O’Shea, Italy now pose a different challenge, but captain Sergio Parisse remains their key man.
“Italy had a fantastic win against South Africa, and they should have beaten Tonga,” Jenkins said.
“It is going to be tough for long periods of the game. We have got to bring our A game, be ready to play from anywhere and ready to play a territory game as well.
“We have just got to focus on the first minute to the last and implement our game plan on them. Anything can happen in Test rugby. You have got to earn the right to put your points on the scoreboard. Test match rugby is all about winning. If we can get over the line with any sort of win, we will be more than happy.”
Italy go into Sunday’s game as underdogs, but are enjoying that position. The country’s president Sergio Mattarella will watch the team in action for the first time.
Parisse said: “We have to be positive and we are happy to begin another Six Nations campaign against Wales. This year we have prepared for Wales in a different way. It’s different to the way we prepared against South Africa and Tonga in November. We have trained very hard physically this week and worked as hard as we can for this game.
“In the last two years against Wales we have had tough results both in Rome and Cardiff. I’m really confident we can put in a good performance and if we do that for 80 minutes then we will do well. We have the quality to get the result.”
