Jones admits his debut was short but very sweet
HE may have been on the pitch for only twenty three minutes — but Huw Jones didn’t care. He had made his Scotland debut and that was all that mattered.
The 22-year-old, who plays Super Rugby in South Africa with the Stormers, was the only uncapped player in the Scots’ 27-strong touring party.
After missing the first Test against Japan because of a knee injury, he desperately wanted to be capped and got his wish when he replaced Ruaridh Jackson in yesterday’s 21-16 win over Japan in Tokyo.
It wasn’t a like-for-like substitution, with Jones taking over from Peter Horne in the centre, allowing Horne to take Jackson’s stand-off position.
Jones rode his luck early on when he had a kick charged down but luckily it ran over the dead-ball line.
However, he fitted in well to the Scotland defensive line, which was stretched for long periods near the end.
At the final whistle, as the Scots and the Japan players lined up to bow to the Japanese Emperor, there was a huge smile on his face — and no wonder.
Born in Edinburgh, Jones had finally fulfilled his dream of winning a Scotland cap.
He moved to England with his parents aged three but from the age of 11, he had a Scotland flag above his bed. He still has it at his home in Cape Town. He will now be able to give his international cap pride of place next to it.
Afterwards, Jones — proudly wearing his kilt as he walked to the team bus — admitted it had been the proudest moment of his life.
‘It was a huge honour to get on and be capped for Scotland, the proudest moment of my life,’ he declared. ‘It was a tough time to come on as we were defending a lot. To be honest, I am not sure I touched the ball in attack as we were defending so much.
‘I was switched on from the moment I got on the pitch as that was a really hard match in tough conditions.
‘To win was fantastic and gives me another reason to remember my first cap. It was presented to me on Saturday night and it was a fantastic moment.
‘Hopefully, it will be my first cap of many. I have loved my time with the squad and it would be great to be involved in the autumn Tests.’
Whether or not that happens for Jones is open to question as the games against Argentina, Australia and Georgia are in the middle of the Super Rugby season for his club the Stormers,
‘I am heading back to Australia now to join up with the Stormers, who are playing over there.
‘I will then go back to South Africa with them,’ added the Scotland centre. ‘I hope to return for the autumn Tests but I’m not sure what will happen.’
Scotland head coach Vern Cotter admitted beating Japan when playing below par at the end of a long and hard season showed the character of his players.
‘If we can have frustrating days and a win at the end of them all the time like today, I will be happy,’ he said.
‘It was a good win in the context that it came at the end of the season and a long year.
‘I was very happy with the character and the way the team applied themselves under pressure to get the result.
‘It could have gone the other way but the players kept going for the win. We took a while to wear them down, but we got there.’
Cotter was reluctant to single out man of the match Greig Laidlaw, who came on and turned the game.
But he did praise both Henry Pyrgos, who started as Scotland captain and scrum-half, as well as the regular skipper who came on in the second half.
‘Both nines had important roles in the game as link players and both captained the team well when they were on,’ said the Scotland head coach.
‘They did a great job and helped us get the win. Henry and Greig shared the responsibility of keeping everybody organised and kept the points ticking over.
‘Overall, we managed to get field position and defend well. In the second half, we kept our discipline, made tackles and forced turnovers.
‘We can always improve, so we will review the game with total honesty. We must ensure we perform consistently.’