It isn’t always the glamour boys behind the scrum who deserve praise after winning games of rugby.
Sometimes, those who earn their keep in the trenches may come up with moments that tilt the balance.
And so to the final play at Stadio Monigo on Thursday, where Wales were defending a six-point lead against Georgia in the U20 Summer Series and the eastern Europeans, who happened to be blessed with a driving maul for the ages, won a lineout five metres out.
Read next : Wales U20 30-24 Georgia U20: Byron Hayward's side maintain 100 percent winning run in Summer Series
A try looked more than likely, and with it defeat for Wales.
But one Welsh player hadn’t read the script.
With minimal assistance, lock Dafydd Jenkins leapt high to tap down the ball, displaying a combination of perfect timing and impressive athleticism as he did so.
It was enough to save Byron Hayward’s side, who cleared their lines to win the game 30-24. You can read more about Jenkins and the impact he's making here.
The Georgians cannot say they were not warned. Five minutes early they’d had a lineout in Wales’ 22 and saw the 6ft 7in Jenkins pick it off. But it was the second episode of pilfering that most delighted coach Hayward.
“That’s what world-class players at this age-grade give you,” he enthused.
“And that’s what Daf Jenkins is.
“That little moment there was world class and an essential moment."
Certainly, the 19-year-old who had been mooted as a candidate to tour South Africa with the Wales senior team this summer underlined his potential.
But the Georgians made Wales work desperately hard for the win, targeting Christ Tshiunza for a series of bruising hits and causing Hayward’s side no end of problems with their maul.
“Give them a lot of credit,” said Hayward. “They were a very good side and a lot better than I’d thought they’d be, particularly up front, where they had an unbelievable driving maul which we struggled to contain.
“The statistics were still very favourable to us in the first half.
“So when I asked the boys why we were on the wrong side of the scoreboard at half-time, they said they were getting absolutely battered physically and losing the collisions with and without the ball. Georgia were hungry and very clinical.”
But Wales found a way, with skipper Joe Hawkins an inspiration, the centre having a hand in all four of his team’s tries — scoring one and helping to set up the other three — and preventing a touchdown at the other end with last-ditch defence.
His perfectly judged crossfield kick put a touchdown on a plate for Harri Houston and was a match highlight.
Scrum-half Morgan Lloyd was Hayward’s pick as man of the match for the excellence of his kicking game, while Ospreys’ wing Houston took his two tries well and was never less than sharp.
The Welsh youngsters had been in a game but should be better for it. “The boys showed a lot of character,” said Hayward.
“It was a battle and sometimes you have to go to dark places to win games of rugby.
“You learn more when you have to dig deep than when you win by 40 points. It was perfect preparation for our game with Italy next week.”
The match with the Italians will decide who finishes top of Pool B in the Summer Series, with the victors taking on the winners of Pool A in the final batch of games.
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