Born in New Tredegar on 1 July, 1931, he started life at Tredegar Grammar School as a full back before converting to No 8. He went on to make 114 appearances for the Black & Ambers between 1953-61 and captained the club in the 1957-58 season.
His debut came in a win over Abertillery on 7 February, 1953 and he became the first recipient of the Arthur Boucher trophy for the most promising player at the end of that campaign.
He led from the front against the Australian tourists in his season as captain, scoring a vital try in the 11-0 triumph, although he was restricted to 17 appearances in that season due to illness. He signed off his Newport career with a win over Pontypool on 20 September, 1961.
He faced the All Blacks twice during his career. The first time was for Newport in 1953, when the Welsh club lost 11-3 at Rodney Parade, and a decade later, while playing for Bath and for Dorset & Wiltshire, he was in the Southern Counties team that faced the 1963 tourists at the Greyhound Stadium, Hove, and lost 32-3.
He also played for Loughborough Colleges, Leicester, London Welsh, the RAF, Combined Services and Bedwas during his career.
Having initially trained as a teacher at the Caerleon Training College – he was the first player to be capped while at Caerleon and was captain of the College 1st XV when he played against the All Blacks with Newport and when he won the first of his Welsh caps – he went into the profession before pursuing a career in the RAF, the service in which he had done his National Service. He rose to the rank of Squadron Leader and finally became a Wing Commander in 1979.
He captained the RAF side from 1962-64, leading them to the Inter-Services title at Twickenham in 1962, and he also led the Combined Services team on their tour of East Africa and Kenya that year. After hanging up his boots in 1965, he went on to become team manager and then fixture secretary for the RAF.
Captain of the RAF
He won his first Welsh cap at the age of 22 at Lansdowne Road when he was one of six new caps, and seven changes in all, drafted in for the trip to Ireland in round two of the 1954 Five Nations campaign in the wake of a 9-6 defeat at Twickenham.
Out went six of the heroes form the win over New Zealand a few months earlier and Jenkins found himself joining Newport clubmate Bryn Meredith, fellow back row man Brian Sparks, lock Rhys Williams, centre Denzil Thomas and full back Viv Evans in winning his first cap.
Wales ran out winners by 12-9, but Jenkins, Sparks and Thomas were all left out for the next two Championship matches, which saw Wales beat both France and Scotland at home. He had to wait two years before returning to the Welsh pack.
He was selected throughout the 1956 Five Nations campaign and helped Wales win three of their four matches under skipper Cliff Morgan to take the title.
The WRU offers sincere condolences to the family and friends of Leighton Jenkins.
