WALES forward Gethin Jenkins is gearing up for 'the biggest game of his career' against the man he calls the best tight-head prop in the world.
Jenkins comes face to face with Julian White, the Leicester front row powerhouse, in Saturday's Six Nations curtain-raiser between Wales and England at the Millennium Stadium. The battle between Wales' loose-head and England's tight-head promises to be a blockbuster.
Jenkins insists he has no fears about facing the man he reckons is the best tight-head prop in the world while Wales coach Mike Ruddock questions the legality of White's scrummaging technique.
Jenkins said: "He's a very good tight head who played well all season for Leicester and I saw him against South Africa in the Autumn where he was very impressive.
"He destroyed the opposition scrum and was awesome in my opinion he is one of the best tight-head forwards in the world if not the best. There are a couple of French guys who are good prop forwards but he is definitely up there at the top.
"But I won't be daunted, I'm more excited, you want to test yourself against the best and they along with Julian White are one of the best sides in the world and it is just a case of getting into them."
Ruddock is well aware of White's fearsome reputation as a powerhouse scrummager, but warns he will speak to the referee before the game about him.
"We are conscious of him as a scrummager and I intend speaking to the referee to ask him to make sure he's straight in the scrum," Ruddock said.
The clear implication of that is the Wales camp, including Ruddock, believe White 'bores in' at the scrum which is illegal.
The referee on Saturday is Steve Walsh of New Zealand who will clearly have an important role to play in view of Ruddock's implication about White's scrummaging technique.
Jenkins has been involved in Wales' last two narrow defeats against England, but he believes that this could be the time he finally tastes victory in a game he describes as the biggest of his career.
He said: "Before the last two games we lacked confidence and didn't believe that we could beat England.
"You could see at the end of both games how disappointed we were but we just didn't have that killer touch at the end but that is all changing.
"Obviously this is a massive Six Nations for me. I've got five tough games and no matter who you and I want to perform in every game I play.
"I think that this is the biggest game I've played.
"Before this then England in the quarter-final at the World Cup was probably the biggest as we all know about the expectation this time around and we are under pressure to perform."
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