I lost coaching desire - Jenkins

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Interview: Gareth Jenkins

Gareth Jenkins says he realised it was time to give up coaching when he went for other jobs following his sacking as Wales manager last year.

Jenkins, 56, was unveiled as head of regional development and recruitment with the Llanelli Scarlets on Thursday.

And he said: "I went to a couple of interviews in other places but that excitement, adrenaline and that thing you have to have wasn't there.

"I realised then that my time in the tracksuit wasn't any longer."

This newly created backroom role is Jenkins' first job in rugby since being sacked by the Welsh Rugby Union after the World Cup exit to Fiji in September.

And Jenkins revealed the heartache he went through after being shown the door.

"It wasn't the best thing that has happened to me," he said.

"It was a very difficult decision I had to deal with and the way it happened.

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"But what you have to do is, you mustn't allow something to become bigger than it is.

"You have to deal with things. I wasn't prepared to let it get me down, I had to put it into perspective.

"I had to do a lot of reflecting and that took maybe six to eight weeks.

"After that, I was pretty comfortable.

"There was not a lot of work opportunities out there. I was looking to work, I wanted to get back into work.

"It wasn't something that I was going to finish rugby because of."