Rugby World Cup: Dafydd Jenkins explains Love Spoon as players team up against Georgia

For Dafydd Jenkins, life is moving at 100 miles per hour.

The 20-year-old from Bridgend was thrown into Test rugby less than a year ago. His debut, incidentally, was in the dismal defeat to today’s opponents Georgia last November.

But the second row is showing all the signs of having what it takes to enjoy a long career on the world stage.

The youth he brings to the side is an illustration of how Warren Gatland has evolved the playing group heading into this World Cup.

And, being the youngest member of the squad at this tournament brings about added off-field responsibility.

Everywhere he goes, Jenkins has to carry a sizeable Welsh Love Spoon with him and if anyone asks, his role is to explain its significance.

It's been a long-running tradition and other members of the group have had that honour in the past. Head of Strength and Conditioning Huw Bennett had it at the 2007 World Cup. Centre centurion George North was the keeper of the spoon in 2011.

“Benny told me quite a lot because he was the first one to have the spoon - our S&C now - so basically he talked about what each part represents,” Jenkins explained.

“So obviously the dragon is the flag, the harp’s the Welsh music and obviously the three feathers is the badge.”

But things are never that straightforward in a rugby environment. To keep themselves entertained across the weeks spent in hotels and on training fields around France, other players in the squad make it their business to make Jenkins’ life difficult.

“Some boys think they're funny and try nicking it, so I've got to hide it,” he smiled. “On travel days, it's especially hard because you've got to keep your eye on it. You can't be taking naps on the trains and stuff.”

Losing the spoon is bad news. Jenkins faces a fine and has the option of trying his luck by spinning a wheel to decide his fate, or paying a monetary fine.

“I've lost it once, but I lost it for a couple of days,” he said. “So each day the money started going up. But yes, some boys are teaming up against me.”

The biggest nuisance is a man who should have some sympathy with Jenkins’ struggles to keep the spoon safe.

“Probably George [North],” he said when asked who his biggest problem is. “He’s been in my room a few times without permission and there’s a few boys helping him out as well.”

Jenkins’ ascension to this stage has been swift. From a young age, he showed promise and has developed rapidly under the watchful eye of Rob Baxter at Exeter Chiefs.

He has shown he can live at this level and has now earned the trust of Gatland, who is clearly an admirer.

Last summer, former Wales boss Wayne Pivac felt it was best to let him develop with the age-grade side rather than take him on the tour to South Africa.

But even then, he was turning heads when he trained with the senior group. Now he is establishing himself at the top table.

“I don’t really think about how quick it has come because it’s all happened so fast,” he admits.

“Hopefully I'll be able to look back on it and think it’s pretty special, having the spoon and being so young at my first World Cup.

“But I just want to keep moving forward now and hopefully play well and earn my spot in the squad.

“I think it's just about every day when you go training, just trying to get better and better. And just learning every day. Hopefully then the games take care of themselves and you play well enough to keep getting picked.”

Today he will wear the number five jersey, as he did against Portugal.

The significance of that shirt is not lost on him because up until this campaign, it was filled by the giant - literally and metaphorically - frame of Alun Wyn Jones, the world’s most capped rugby player.

“I was lucky enough to see how he trains and how he plays in my first Six Nations campaign, and it was all about trying to learn as much as I could from him,” said Jenkins.

“Al was definitely a special, special player.

“It was weird when I first came into camp because you watch all the boys on TV and now you’re in the group. It was definitely special.”

If Jenkins goes on to have half the career of his predecessor, he’ll be doing alright.