Jones in a good place and on a Six Nations mission
PLAYING with a smile on his face has given Huw Jones renewed hope that he can win back his Scotland place in the Six Nations. Since he left Glasgow Warriors in the summer he remains just as driven but more relaxed as he is having better ‘fun’ than he has ever had in his rugby career at English champions Harlequins.
The centre, who makes the first start of the season for them against Leicester Tigers at Mattioli Woods Welford Road today, said it was ‘different and refreshing’ to be really looking forward to coming into training.
Although he didn’t name any clubs or coaches where it may have been less fun — he played under Dave Rennie and then Danny Wilson at Glasgow Warriors — he is certainly loving life at Harlequins alongside larger than life characters such as England prop Joe Marler.
‘I would say we train less than other clubs I have been at but when we are on, we are on,’ said Jones. ‘When we do come in everybody is ready to go, so there is no waste of time. There is a real enjoyment around what we do.
‘We are not taking the mickey at any stage but we make everything fun. It is enjoyable and training like that makes a difference. You come into work and are looking forward to it. It has been a change for me and I have absolutely loved it so far. I think it is brilliant here and also different and refreshing.
‘Although there is pressure to win, you don’t feel it during the week but even when the pressure builds up we are relaxed. We take maybe a more light-hearted approach during the week but we are still doing the work.
‘We go into our games positive and happy and ready to express ourselves. If you are too stressed you may play within yourself and that is the last thing we want with our game plan. We want to be able to express ourselves to be really effective.
‘My plan now is to get as much game time with Harlequins as possible and hopefully be in a better place around the Six Nations by which time I have enough game time under my belt to challenge for a spot in the Scotland squad.’
Scottish fans know how good Jones can be playing his natural attacking game with his two tries in the 2018 Calcutta Cup win over England at BT Murrayfield earning him his reputation as a supporters’ favourite. Things didn’t go smoothly for him at
Glasgow Warriors where he struggled to hold down a firstteam place, which restricted his starts for Scotland over the past few years.
The way things went for him during the autumn Tests was the latest example of why he has been so frustrated at international level.
He was part of the initial Scotland squad for the clashes against Australia, South Africa and Japan but didn’t play in any of them. Although he trained with Gregor Townsend’s team ahead of all three matches he was sent back to Harlequins when he didn’t make the team.
‘It was tough and the travel was a bit annoying, up and down each week but that’s how it goes sometimes,’ said Jones. ‘I went up and did my best but got sent down and tried to get a game for my club, so it was really frustrating.
Now, I just want to kick on with Harlequins and try and get more involved in the Six Nations with Scotland’.
Jones was the only centre in the Scotland squad not to play over the autumn, with Chris Harris, Matt Scott, Sam Johnson and new cap Sione Tuipulotu all given their chance ahead of him.
The 31-times capped Jones said he had been told initially by Townsend that a lack of early season game time for Harlequins counted against him but good feedback in training left him disappointed he didn’t get his chance.
‘Initially, it was a lack of game time. I hadn’t played a lot as I had come off the back of an injury in the summer,’ he said.
‘Understandably the lack of game time meant I wasn’t quite ready for it. I thought I had trained well and the feedback was good around training on the field in Edinburgh but it was felt I wasn’t quite ready.’
Jones is part of a star-studded Harlequins team that includes the likes of England internationals Marler and fly-half Marcus Smith. They sit third in the English Premiership behind Saracens and leaders Leicester Tigers, their opponents today.
He knows this is his chance to impress Townsend after making all his earlier appearances off the bench for the current English champions.
Jones is under no illusions that Leicester will use their pack to gain superiority but made clear his team at least knows what to expect from the first whistle.
‘We know what is coming as they are physical and direct, so it is up to us to deal with that,’ said Jones.
‘Harlequins had good momentum round the end of last season when they won the championship and Leicester probably have that now this season. Consistency is something we are trying to get back and we hope to start a good run against Leicester on Sunday.’
Leicester Tigers v Harlequins. Kick-off 3pm. Live on BT Sport.