Exeter captain Jenkins calls Premiership final against Northampton the benchmark of his career

Dafydd Jenkins has described Saturday’s Gallagher Premiership final against Northampton at Twickenham as the defining match of his career so far, with the 23-year-old Exeter captain leading his side into the showpiece just one year after the club narrowly avoided relegation.

The Wales lock, capped 31 times and a 2023 Rugby World Cup participant, will skipper the Chiefs as they chase a third Premiership title. Exeter won only four of 18 league fixtures last season before finishing third this campaign — a turnaround that has brought them to within 80 minutes of silverware.

“It’s definitely the biggest game I’ve been involved in, just with everything that’s on the line, the occasion, being at Twickenham, sell out,” Jenkins said. “I’m really excited to see where I am at that level and where this team is at that level.”

Exeter reached the final with a 27-26 comeback win over reigning champions Bath last weekend. Jenkins acknowledged the journey from last season’s struggles, crediting the squad’s resilience and director of rugby Rob Baxter’s recruitment.

“Probably from day one of the season we set out to win the Premiership and we still haven’t done that yet, we’re only in the final,” he said. “I’m obviously extremely proud of the group of where we’ve come from, through adversity, last season not being very good. I think we knew the potential we had in this group. Players learnt a lot from last season and Rob found some good signings.”

For Jenkins personally, the final offers a chance to experience a high-stakes winning occasion after a difficult period at international level. Wales endured an 18-match losing run during his Test career and have claimed the Six Nations wooden spoon in three consecutive championships.

“When you’re young all you think about is the good times and you probably don’t expect the tough times to come with it,” he said. “But I think it’s going to make winning this final even sweeter when we do. Being Welsh and representing the country in this Premiership final is definitely something I’m not taking lightly.”

Northampton, who defeated Leicester in the semi-finals, enter the weekend as favourites after finishing top of the regular-season table. The two sides have already produced dramatic encounters this season — a 33-33 draw at Franklin’s Gardens in September and a last-gasp 35-28 Saints victory at Sandy Park in April.

Baxter, preparing for the seventh final of his reign — having won in 2017 and 2020 and lost in 2016, 2018, 2019 and 2021 — expects a frenetic contest. “Northampton score points. We’ve had quite a few games where we’ve probably looked at our best in the last 20, 25 minutes,” he said. “It’s likely to be a pretty hurly-burly 80 minutes, I would think.”