I was chatting to a committee man from The Rocks. He reckons that Gareth Jenkins is, quote, Yesterday’s Man. Eh? I was a tad too flummoxed to ask him to ‘define your terms, pal.’ (The term ‘pal’ is, to those who know me an indicator of the probability of, at best, a row, at worst what my mate Betts refers to as ‘a frank and forthright exchange of views in a non-verbal format.’)...
I once had a really fraught trip over to Paris to see the 2005 Wales game. The flight from Bristol turned back because of dicky undercarriage. That was a quiet plane on landing, I can tell you.
Well, GJ was on the plane in his capacity as a watcher / coach for the Lions. He was brilliant; he explained the importance of the situation to the BA staff (without having recourse to the word ‘pal’), ensured a swift movement of fellow rugby bods through Amsterdam (I told you it was fraught) airport and persuaded a friendly French girl to translate and purchase tickets for the train from CDG airport to the stadium. He was very engaging, interesting and interested and came across as much clued up. And told some reasonably funny stories about his playing days, to boot (literally...)
Now, make of this what you will, but the Lions midweekers came back looking tidy and organised, Geech speaks highly of him and the Turks have done pretty well for any number of years. I don’t know jack about much but I am pretty sure that Gareth Jenkins will bring a degree of sense, balance and modernity to the Welsh set-up, but only where necessary.
So there. Phew. Sorry. And I’m a little worried that I may have a rust spot on my bonnet. Yesterday's man... Pah.