“Huwipolotu.” “Humble Huw.” Huw Jones’s rugby career has travelled under a couple of noms-de-plume, bestowed by others. The first is a media reference point, squashing the names of Glasgow Warriors and Scotland centre buddies Huw Jones and Sione Tuipolotu into a single entity, a homily to their prowess as a combination on a rugby pitch.
The second, “Humble Huw” was revealed in an interview with La Rochelle’s Dillyn Leyds and dates to 2015, when the two played together for the Stormers. Jones, born in Scotland, schooled at Millfield in Somerset, embraced a gap year at Bishop’s School and then returned to South Africa to pursue a further education opportunity in the same city at University of Cape Town.
Jones won a Currie Cup with western Province, before injuries saw him called into the Stormers side for Super Rugby, where he played alongside future Springboks Damian de Allende and Juan de Jongh. Jones had the skill sets but also a bit of swagger, which is why he got a particular nickname.
Leyds explained: “The stuff he could come out with was absolutely ridiculous; the stories he’d tell, the things he’d say. He always backed himself to be the funniest dude around, or the guy with the best chat.
“We had another guy live with us and Jonesy’s contribution to the house chores was zero. He didn’t have a driving licence so I would be his chauffeur, driving him to training, or if he had to be somewhere else, he’d say, ‘err, Dil …?' It was me or an Uber; mostly me.”
Jones was/is a black belt in karaoke, his “go-to” power ballad, Angels by Robbie Williams. His laid-back demeanour could not camouflage an outstanding attacking player. Leyds confirmed: “He never took anything too seriously but when it was time for rugby, he was the man.
“He basically carried us during our 2017 Currie Cup win. He scored two tries and was man of the match in the final. John Dobson was our coach and the culture he created – play hard and have a better time off the field – was just perfect for Jonesy.”
Halfway through 2016 he got a call “out of the blue” from the Scotland management. Jones explained: “I got a call from my agent first and then I got a call from Vern [Cotter] about five minutes later. I was a late call up for the Japan tour and I think I played 20 minutes in the last game.
“I didn’t really do much, but it was a good experience then I went back to Cape Town. I have to say I got a lot more game time for the Stormers after that tour. I didn’t think much had changed in my game over the two weeks, but they said that I came back with a lot more confidence.”
His tour de force in the Currie Cup was followed by signing for Glasgow in advance of the 2017-2018 season and putting in try-scoring performances against Samoa, Australia and New Zealand.
Despite dazzling at international level, including a brace in the 2018 Calcutta Cup match against England, he fell out of form and favour under Dave Rennie at Glasgow. That, and an injury, meant he missed the 2019 World Cup in Japan.
He spent a season at Harlequins (2021-2022), which he credits with giving him the scope and space to re-energise his career, before returning to Glasgow in the summer of 2021. No one would quibble with Jones’s talent with ball-in-hand, 22 tries in 54 caps, but his defence required work. Scotland’s defence coach Steve Tandy gave him the tools for self-improvement and the player was diligent in applying himself.
It helped that he played alongside the inspirational Tuipolotu – who misses the Six Nations with a bicep injury – for club and country. One person who knows Jones, the person and player, is his backs coach at Glasgow, the former Ireland under-20s coach and ex-Connacht wing Nigel Carolan.
He touched first on his personality. “I think it’s good to have a swagger. I think it’s even more important to have a swagger if you back it up on the field. He’s a guy we bounce a lot off, and he’s not shy to put his ideas forward in whether he agrees with stuff. If he doesn’t agree, he’s clear in his rationale.
“Huw is very articulate, a great guy. On the field, he’s so skilful with his running lines. It is also the relationship he’s built up with Sione, Stafford MacDowell [with whom he played in the centre against Italy and Ireland last year] and Tom Jordan as well. They just bounce off each other, it is like telepathy. They just seem to know what the other’s going to do, they understand each other very well.
“I was pleased to see the third try that he got [against Italy] there was a lot of work involved. He’s got a nose for the try line. Maybe for the first two, he’s just in the right place, but he is always in the right place, for us as well. His work-rate, how he follows the play and how he anticipates line breaks; that is how he scores so many tries. He’s got a nose for the line.”
He’s also shown a penchant for scoring against Ireland, three in the last three Tests between the countries. If Simon Easterby’s side is to continue that winning streak against the Scots, one task will be to keep up with the Jones.
