Jason Howell Jenkins (born 2 December 1995) is a South African

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player for

United Rugby Championship The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The current name was adopted in 2021 when the league expanded to include four South Afr ...

and Champions Cup side

Leinster Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of Ir ...

. His regular position is lock, though he can also play in the back-row.

Career

2014

After completing high school at

St. Alban's College St. Alban's College is a private, boarding, English medium and day high school for boys situated in the suburb of Lynnwood Glen in Pretoria in the Gauteng province of South Africa. It was founded in 1963 by Anton Murray. Its history, influence, ...

in Pretoria, Jenkins joined the Academy. He established himself in the squad that participated in the

2014 Under-21 Provincial Championship The 2014 Under-21 Provincial Championship was a rugby union competition held between the Under-21 players from the fourteen provincial rugby unions in South Africa, plus the sub-union. It was contested from 11 July to 25 October 2014. Group A ...

, appearing in all fourteen of their matches in the competition and starting thirteen of those. He scored tries in their matches against the s and the s to help the Blue Bulls finish top of the log to qualify for the semi-finals. He helped the Blue Bulls to a 43–20 victory in their semi-final match against the Sharks U19s and he also started the final, where the Blue Bulls lost 26–33 to Western Province.

2015

In 2015, Jenkins was named in the squad for the

2015 Varsity Cup The 2015 Varsity Cup was contested from 9 February to 13 April 2015. The tournament (also known as the ''FNB Varsity Cup presented by Steinhoff International'' for sponsorship reasons) was the eighth season of the Varsity Cup, an annual inter-univ ...

competition. He make one appearance, playing off the bench in a 63–8 victory over the . Jenkins was named in a 37-man South Africa Under-20 training squad and appeared for them as a replacement in a 31–24 victory in a friendly match against a Varsity Cup Dream Team that was named at the conclusion of the 2015 Varsity Cup competition. He was then named in their squad to tour

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

for a two-match series as preparation for the 2015 World Rugby Under 20 Championship. He started their 25–22 victory over

in the first match, as well as 39–28 win in the second match four days later. Upon the team's return, he was named in the final squad for the

2015 World Rugby Under 20 Championship The 2015 World Rugby Under 20 Championship was the eighth annual international rugby union competition for Under 20 national teams. The event was organised for the second time in Italy by rugby's governing body, World Rugby. Twelve nations played i ...

. He played in all three of their matches in Pool B of the competition; he played off the bench in a 33–5 win against hosts

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, before starting both their 40–8 win against

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

and their 46–13 win over

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. Jenkins also scored a try in each of the two matches that he started to help South Africa finish top of Pool B to qualify for the semi-finals with the best record pool stage of all the teams in the competition. He started their semi-final match against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, but could not prevent them losing 20–28 to be eliminated from the competition by England for the second year in succession. He started their third-place play-off match against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, scoring his third try of the competition to help South Africa to a 31–18 win to win the bronze medal. He then played for the s in the

2015 Under-21 Provincial Championship Group A The 2015 Under-21 Provincial Championship Group A was contested from 10 July to 24 October 2015. The competition (also known as the ''ABSA Under-21 Provincial Championship'' for sponsorship reasons) was the top tier of 2015 edition of the Under-21 ...

, but was also named in the senior squad for the 2015 Currie Cup Premier Division.

South Africa 'A' and Springboks

In 2016, Jenkins was included in a South Africa 'A' squad that played a two-match series against a touring

England Saxons England A is England's men's second national rugby union team. The team has previously been known by a number of names, such as England B, Emerging England and, most recently, England Saxons. England A play a key role in the development of emer ...

team. He didn't play in their first match in

Bloemfontein Bloemfontein, ( ; , "fountain of flowers") also known as Bloem, is one of South Africa's three capital cities and the capital of the Free State (province), Free State province. It serves as the country's judicial capital, along with legisla ...

, but started the second match of the series, a 26–29 defeat in

George George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presiden ...

. He made his Test debut for the senior

Springboks The South Africa national rugby union team, commonly known as the Springboks (colloquially the Boks, Bokke or Amabokoboko), is the country's national team governed by the South African Rugby Union. The Springboks play in green and gold jersey ...

on 2 June 2018 against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

at the age of 22 years.

Toyota Verblitz

He joined

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese

Top League Japan Rugby League One (formerly the Top League) is a rugby union competition in Japan. It is the highest level of professional rugby competition in the country. The Japan Rugby Football Union created the competition in 2003, by absorbing the ...

side

Toyota Verblitz Toyota Verblitz is a Japanese rugby union team in the Japan Rugby League One. Verblitz is a portmanteau of ''verde'' (Spanish and Portuguese for 'green') and ''blitz'' (German for 'lightning'). The team is owned by Toyota Motor Corporation and is ...

for the 2017–18 season.

Munster

Jenkins joined Irish

and Champions Cup side

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...

on a one-year contract for the 2021–22 season, joining his former Bulls teammate

RG Snyman Rudolph Gerhardus Snyman (born 29 January 1995) is a South African professional rugby union player who currently plays for the South Africa national team and Irish province Munster in the United Rugby Championship. His regular position is loc ...

at the club. He made his senior competitive debut for the province in their 2021–22 Champions Cup round 2 fixture at home to French side

Castres Castres (; ''Castras'' in the Languedocian dialect, Languedocian dialect of Occitan language, Occitan) is the sole Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Tarn (department), Tarn Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administ ...

on 18 December 2021, coming on as a replacement for

Jean Kleyn Jean Kleyn (born 26 August 1993) is a South African-born Irish professional rugby union player, currently playing for Irish United Rugby Championship and European Rugby Champions Cup side Munster. He has represented Ireland after qualifying thr ...

in Munster's 19–13 victory. Jenkins endured a difficult start to his time with Munster, as shoulder, thigh and abdominal injuries restricted him to just one appearance for the province by the start of 2022. Jenkins returned from the run of injured to make his

debut for the province in their 51–22 home win against Italian side Benetton in round 14 on 25 March 2022, coming on as a 63rd minute replacement for Alex Kendellen.

Leinster

Jenkins joined

from the 2022–23 season.

References

External links

Munster Profile
*
URC Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jenkins, Jason South African rugby union players Living people 1995 births White South African people Rugby union players from Pretoria South African people of Welsh descent Blue Bulls players Bulls (rugby union) players Toyota Verblitz players Munster Rugby players Leinster Rugby players South Africa Under-20 international rugby union players South Africa international rugby union players South African expatriate rugby union players South African expatriate sportspeople in Ireland Expatriate rugby union players in Ireland Rugby union locks