Huw Jones (rugby union)


Huw Richard Forbes Jones is a Scottish international rugby union player who plays as a centre, although he can also play as a full-back or winger. He is currently contracted to Glasgow Warriors.

Background

Jones was born in Leith in Edinburgh in the old Eastern General Hospital to parents Bill and Hillary. At the time of Jones' birth, his father coached at George Watson's College where Scott Hastings was among those he coached. His parents had previously studied at Edinburgh University. Jones' maternal grandfather is also Scottish. His father has Welsh heritage reflected in the name, Huw Jones.
When he was two years old his family moved from Musselburgh to Kent. Jones was later schooled at Millfield in Somerset.

Club career

False Bay and UCT Ikey Tigers

After finishing his schooling, Jones moved to South Africa for his gap year where he worked at Bishops Preparatory School in Cape Town. He played club rugby for False Bay in 2013 and after the club's Director of Rugby, Kevin Musikanth, was appointed as head coach of the Varsity Cup side, Jones followed Musikanth by enrolling at the University of Cape Town for 2014. He made a total of nine appearances for UCT during the 2014 Varsity Cup competition, scoring a try in their match against as UCT finished second in the pool stage. After beating Western Cape rivals in the semi-finals, the won the final against in Potchefstroom. Jones opened the scoring for the visitors by scoring a try in the fourth minute and helped them clinch the title in dramatic fashion as they fought back from 33–15 down with five minutes to go to achieve a 39–33 victory to win the competition for the second time.

Western Province/Stormers

On the back of his performances for the during the 2014 Varsity Cup, Jones was called up to the Vodacom Cup side of local provincial team,. He made his first class debut for them during the 2014 Vodacom Cup competition, starting in their match against the in Round Six of the competition. He took just eleven minutes to score his first try at senior level, setting Western Province on their way to a 28–15 victory. He also started the final group game of the competition against the in George.
In the latter half of 2014, he appeared for the side in the 2014 Under-21 Provincial Championship, making three starts and scoring two tries in their match against the team in Durban.
In 2015, Jones was included in the wider training group prior to the 2015 Super Rugby season. He scored a try in a trial match against the and was also included in their final squad. He was named on the bench for the opening match of the competition against the in Pretoria and came on as a replacement in the final minute of the match to make his Super Rugby debut. He also came off the bench in the next five matches, playing less than ten minutes on each occasion. He was promoted to the starting lineup for the Round Eight match against New Zealand side the in Wellington, starting at outside centre. In the 64th minute, Jones scored his first Super Rugby try, but it was not enough as the home side won 25–20. He reverted to his role as a replacement for the Stormers, making a further six appearances off the bench throughout the remainder of the competition before starting the final match of the regular season, a 12–34 defeat to the. The Stormers finished top of the South African Conference to qualify for the finals, but Jones was not involved in their 19–39 defeat to the in the eliminating qualifier.
He was included in 's squad for the 2015 Currie Cup Premier Division and made his Currie Cup debut in the Round Three match away to the, playing off the bench in a 29–47 defeat. He made his first start three weeks later against the, the start of an extended run in the team that saw him make four starts and four appearances as a replacement during the competition, scoring one try in the home match against the Blue Bulls. The final two of these appearances occurred in the play-offs after Western Province finished third on the log during the regular season; a last-minute substitute appearance in their 23–18 victory over the Blue Bulls in their semi-final match was followed by another appearance off the bench in the final, which the won 32–24 in Johannesburg.
Jones was involved in the Stormers' 2016 Super Rugby season, making six appearances off the bench prior to the international break, during which time he earned his first [|international call-up for Scotland].
On 28 October 2017 Jones scored two tries in a Man of the Match farewell performance as beat the Natal Sharks in the final to win the 2017 Currie Cup.

Glasgow Warriors

Jones has stated that he always felt Scottish. He has kept a saltire above his bed since he was 11 after watching Chris Paterson help Scotland beat Ireland. When Jones started playing for the University of Cape Town he insisted on being referred to as Scottish. A saltire next to his name caught the attention of Gavin Vaughan of Glasgow Warriors when he was watching a televised game from South Africa in which Jones was playing. According to some sources it seems it was a Wikipedia that allowed Gavin Vaughan to see that Huw Jones was Scottish.
In February 2017, it was announced that the 2017 Super Rugby season would be Jones' last for the Stormers before he returned to Scotland. He joined Warriors 10 months later midway through the 2017-18 after the Currie Cup Final in South Africa.
Jones was drafted to Currie in the Scottish Premiership for the 2018-19 season.
On 25 December 2017, Glasgow Warriors announced that Jones had signed a contract until at least 2021. Jones cited the world class coaching as one of the reasons behind his decision.

International career

In May 2016, Jones was called up to the Scotland squad and made his Test debut during their 2016 summer tour of Japan. In November 2016 he played his first home match for Scotland against Australia, scoring two tries in the narrow defeat.
In February 2017, he was named in Scotland's squad for the 2017 Six Nations Championship, starting their first two games against Ireland and France.
During the 2017 Autumn Internationals, Jones scored tries in all three matches, against Samoa, the All Blacks and Australia.
Jones played all 5 of Scotland matches in the 2018 Six Nations Championship, scoring 2 tries in Scotland's Calcutta Cup victory over England.
Jone played in the opening 3 matches of the 2019 Six Nations Championship but was injured in Scotland's loss to Ireland and was ruled out for the remainder of the tournament..
After being omitted from Scotland's 2019 Rugby World Cup squad, Jones was recalled for the 2020 Six Nations Championship.