Gareth John James Jenkins (born 11 September 1951) is a Welsh former rugby union player and coach. Born in Burry Port, Carmarthenshire, he played for Llanelli RFC for 17 years from his debut in September 1969. He was appointed coach of the club in 1982. In 2003, he was appointed as coach of the newly formed Llanelli Scarlets regional side, guiding them to the Celtic League title in their first season. Following the resignation of Steve Hansen as coach of the Wales national team, Jenkins applied for the position and was one of two finalists only for Mike Ruddock to be appointed without applying. Jenkins finally took over as Wales coach when Ruddock resigned during the 2006 Six Nations, but his tenure was unsuccessful, winning just six of his 20 games in charge. He was sacked on 30 September 2007, the day after Wales failed to qualify for the quarter-finals of the 2007 Rugby World Cup. He returned to the Scarlets as their head of regional development and recruitment in June 2008. Playing career Born in Burry Port, Jenkins played as a flanker for Llanelli RFC, Wales B side and the Barbarians. Jenkins also toured Japan with the Welsh national team in 1975, but was not capped. Jenkins made 259 appearances for Llanelli RFC since his debut as a 17-year-old, before his career was cut short by injury at the age of 26. Older than teammate Ray Gravell by a day, he was the second-youngest member of the Llanelli team that famously beat New Zealand 9–3 at Stradey Park in 1972. Jenkins became player-coach of Furnace United RFC after he stopped playing for Llanelli RFC, coaching FURFC from 1977 to 1982; it was the most successful era for the club, as they were promoted from section E to section C of the West Wales league. Coaching career Llanelli During his 24-year stint as coach of Llanelli RFC, Jenkins won 13 Welsh Cup titles, a 1992–93 league and cup double (a first for a Welsh club) plus a 13–9 win over world champions Australia that same year. In 1998–99 and 2001–02 Llanelli won league titles and the newly formed regional side Llanelli Scarlets won the 2003–04 Celtic League title under his guidance. It was during this time he also led Llanelli to Heineken Cup semi-final places in 2000 and 2002. However, his team consistently fell just short in big games, notably