Guest Blogger: A closer look at the rise of Huw Jones

Guest blogger and Glasgow fan 'The Pen' describes the rise of Huw Jones.

When you think of the great Rugby nations of the world, you think England, South Africa, Wales, New Zealand and you might even add Scotland into that mix. One centre in the current Scotland squad could link them all

A Scotsman, raised in Kent to English parents, with a Welsh sounding name and qualified for South Africa through residency, Huw Jones was picked by Kiwi Vern Cotter for the Scots tour to Japan in 2016 and since then he’s never looked back.

At just 23 years, Jones has already had quite the cosmopolitan lifestyle and his half English-half South African accent could lead you to think he is another “project player” brought over by the SRU to boost the numbers but Jones is Scottish by birth.

Born in Edinburgh, he lived there for 2 years before his family moved to England where he attended Millfield School in Somerset, a place with luminaries such as Mako Vunipola, Jonathan Joseph and Chris Robshaw to name a few. A bright pupil, Jones headed for South Africa on a gap year before university in Wales and his rugby career suddenly took off.

Firstly he played at False Bay in 2013 before being offered a place at university in Cape Town and playing Varsity Cup rugby with the UCT Ikey Tigers, where he won the 2014 Varisty Cup, scoring 2 tries in their victorious campaign.

His appearances for the Tigers led to Western Province calling up Jones for the 2014 Vodacom Cup and within 11 minutes of his first start, he had his first senior try. Good performances for WP then catapulted him into Stormers contention and he was included in their squad for the 2015 Super Rugby season. Making various appearances off the bench, he eventually started a full game and was able to get his first try against the Hurricanes. Up to now, Jones has played 23 games for the Stomers and scored 5 tries. Not a bad return for a player who hasn’t started many games. For Western Province, his record is an outstanding one. 16 games and 9 tries is a record to be proud of!

Jones’s Scotland career owes much to Warriors analyst Gavin Vaughan though and chance. Watching Super Rugby, Vaughan was intrigued by the centre and on checking his credentials, he discovered his nationality and alerted the SRU to him. Funny what can come from a Wikipedia page eh?

Jones was called up Cotter for the Scots tour of Japan and I imagine that Google searches of his name increased 100 fold in his homeland as he was a completely unknown package.

As debuts go, Japan was a relatively straightforward start to an international career but his home debut at Murrayfield gave an idea of his explosive pace and ability. 2 tries against Australia and a Man of the Match performance in a narrow loss put Jones on the map but that joy was short lived as his Autumn Internationals were curtailed by injury.

Rumours persisted about the SRU pursuing their latest star and links with Glasgow were constant but with no official word from either the Stormers or the Warriors, it seemed that this was just pie in the sky until February 6^th when a cryptic video posted on the Warriors twitter suggested a deal had been done before confirming that he’d signed on a 2 year deal to play his rugby at Scotstoun. Having already visited Scotstoun in 2014 and, as previously mentioned, having been spotted by Gavin Vaughan initially, it’s clear that Glasgow have been pursuing him for quite some time. That brings in to question whether he could really be called a Dave Rennie signing. While one would assume the Kiwi had the final say, it seems it was inevitable he would end up in Glasgow.

Scotland will now benefit enormously from this transfer. Alex Dunbar has just signed a 2 year deal to stay on at the Warriors so Scotland get both of their star centres in Scotland and under their rules and they will be playing week in week out together which will lead to a great partnership come international games.

Of course, Jones’s arrival does almost certainly signals the end for at least one of the Warriors current crop of centres. Dunbar, Nick Grigg and Sam Johnson have all extended their stays at Scotstoun and there are rumours that a deal has already been struck with Pete Horne to stay. That leaves Richie Vernon and former Warriors and Scotland golden boy Mark Bennett heading towards the exit. If rumour is to be believed, Bennett’s career could either be heading down South to Newcastle or it could be along the M8 motorway to Edinburgh, a move that the SRU will no doubt be keen to push through.

One thing is clear however. Glasgow are getting a class player who’s not even hit the peak of his career yet. At just 23 years old, Jones is a real talent and Glasgow will get the best of him. If the Scots win against Ireland at the weekend was a tantalising glimpse of him in Dunbar as a partnership, Warriors fans will be positively drooling at the prospect of them in the black and blue. Add to that mix Rennie as one of the best attacking coaches in the Southern Hemisphere and Hogg, Sarto, Seymour, Russell and Price and that is one of the most frightening back lines in Europe. And I can’t wait to see it…

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