Wales were beaten 25-23 in the cruelest of circumstances in Melbourne last weekend as replacement Wallaby fly-half Mike Harries kicked a last-gasp penalty from wide on the left.
Harries become a Wallaby hero and a Welsh heartbreaker as he stepped up to secure a series win for the hosts just moments after coming on for Berrick Barnes at the Etihad Stadium.
His success meant Wales missed out on a memorable victory in the southern hemisphere but Jenkins now hopes lessons will be learnt and that feat will finally be achieved at the Allianz Stadium this Saturday.
“Last weekend was devastating and we were disappointed in ourselves that we couldn’t finish off the game,” said Jenkins.
“We should have seen the game out in Melbourne. With only two minutes on the clock we should have done something a bit different, but when it’s as tight as that it’s the responsibility of the 22 to nail it.
“It probably wasn’t the best of ideas the kick the ball away, but I thought we had a good chase and pinned them down 30 metres from their line. It was just unfortunate that we gave away two penalties which cost us the game.
“Looking back, I’m sure we could have done better to stop that driving line-out and not pulled it down. It was the last minute of the game, we’d all worked our guts out, but we shouldn’t have been down there.
“We didn’t get much sleep last Saturday night just thinking about that last kick and how we should have drawn the series. There wasn’t much talk in the changing rooms afterwards, but it has been heads down (to work) since then as we try to pick ourselves up.
“We’ve taken a bit of time off to reflect on last weekend and to pick ourselves up for the third Test. There’s pride in the changing rooms.”
