HUW’S HUGE BLOW
Scotland star out for six months
SCOTLAND’S Six Nations triumph over Italy has come at a massive cost to Huw Jones – and Glasgow.
The centre suffered a ripped hamstring at Murrayfield and will be sidelined for six months.
His lay-off will rule him out of Scotland’s summer tour to Australia and Fiji, along with the early stages of the Warriors’ European Champions Cup and Pro12 campaigns.
He is also unlikely to be in new national coach Gregor Townsend’s selection for the autumn Test series.
Details of Jones’ injury were revealed by bosses at his current club, The Stormers, in South Africa.
A spokesman confirmed: “Huw suffered a torn hamstring during the Scotland v Italy match at the weekend and will undergo surgery in London.
“He will not be able to train for four to five months.”
The injury means Jones has played his last match for the Stormers. He had been due to be part of their plans for the Super Rugby season in the Southern Hemisphere before linking up with Glasgow and their new supremo Dave Rennie. Having snapped up Jones, Warriors freed up another Scotland centre – Mark Bennett – to make the switch to rivals Edinburgh. Jones, 23, appeared in every Six Nations game, bagging a consolation try-double in the Calcutta Cup hammering at the hands of England at Twickenham earlier this month. He had an outside chance of being picked for the British and Irish Lions’ tour to New Zealand in the summer. Meanwhile, Sean Lamont last night revealed he is ready to quit rugby and admitted he could never have laced the boots of the current crop of young Scotland stars. The nation’s third most capped player will bow out at the end of the season. But first he is aiming to help Glasgow to European glory and claim a place in the Pro12 title play-offs. Lamont, 36, said: “The talent we have now in Scotland is vastly greater than in my early days.
“The guys who have come through since the World Cup a year and a half ago are now really starting to put something together.
“Look at Stuart Hogg. He is 24, the youngest player to earn 50 caps and has developed massively over the past few years.
“When I was the same age as Hoggy is now, I had only been playing pro rugby for two years. Rugby is a different animal.”
Lamont launched his international career 17 years ago and collected 105 caps, behind Chris Paterson (109) and Ross Ford (107) in the all-time list.
He added: “At the age of 36, I think I’m done. I don’t have the gas any more and I can’t get through these holes.
“When you look at the boys in the Scotland squad, even if I was just arriving at my peak I don’t think I would get in the current side.”
Glasgow must beat Connacht at Scotstoun on Saturday to keep alive their Pro12 play-off quest.
Lamont added: “We are not quite dead yet, although we probably need to win every game to have a chance.”