Book description
Neil Jenkins is the most prolific goal-kicker in the history of
British international rugby. A match-winner with Pontypridd and Wales,
a veteran of the Lions Tours - including the 2001 Tour of Australia -
his crowning moment came with the Lions in South Africa in 1997 when
his unerring accuracy with the boot earned the tourists only their
second series victory against the Springboks.
Capped by Wales when he was just 19, Jenkins helped to turn
Pontypridd from the Cinderellas of Welsh rugby into the league
champions and one of the most feared teams in the country. After just
28 internationals he broke the Welsh points-scoring record.
First published in 1998, Life at Numer 10 is a fascinating
account of how Jenkins, a boy from the tip of the Rhondda Valley,
started his working life as a scrap merchant - only to become one of
the most sought-after players in Britain and the most-capped player
for Wales. He tells how the pressure of being the Wales outside-half,
following in the footsteps of legends such as Cliff Morgan, David
Watkins, Barry John, Phil Bennett and Jonathon Davies, took its toll;
and his frustration at being moved by Wales to centre full-back. He
reveals the secrets behind Pontypridd's rise to prominence, the
reasons why he left them in 1999 to join Cardiff, and his fears for
the future of the Welsh game.
The rugby story of the year from one of the players of the decade
Wales on Sunday Jenkins's innate honesty and candour are given veracity,
courtesy of Rees's undoubted skills ... stunning The Independent Paul
Rees is a freelance journalist who contributes to
Wales on Sunday
and
The Guardian
. Educated at Llandovery College and Queen Mary College, London, in 1994
he was voted Welsh Sports Journalist of the Year.
