THREE years of chasing their man have finally paid off for Gregor Townsend and Glasgow Warriors, with Huw Jones, the Scotland centre who is currently based in South Africa, agreeing a two-year deal.
Though capped for Scotland on their summer tour last year, Jones, 23, hit the big time on his first Test start when he scored two tries in a man-of-the-match performance against Australia in November.
He then scored another against Argentina before he damaged his ankle putting Sean Maitland in for a try, but is rated so highly that he was brought straight back into the side for their win over Ireland at the weekend despite not having played a game in between.
His arrival in Glasgow, however, will put another question mark over the future of Mark Bennett, who is likely to find himself deemed surplus to requirements, despite being shortlisted for World Rugby’s breakthrough player of the season 18 months ago and picking up a silver medal in the Rio Olympics sevens tournament.
Reports are that he has been offered a deal by Edinburgh but has yet to decide whether to accept or move away from Scotland.
With Jones secured, the Glasgow Warriors team for next season – after Gregor Townsend moves to take charge of Scotland and Dave Rennie takes over at Scotstoun – is starting to take shape.
He will be joining a club that has already secured Stuart Hogg, Alex Dunbar, Tommy Seymour and Henry Pyrgos on the list of players who have signed for next season. The understanding is that Jones’s future midfield rivals and partners Peter Horne, Nick Grigg and Sam Johnson are likely to sign soon.
That would mean the club is close to securing almost all the high-profile players they want for next season. Of the key men, only Josh Strauss, who was recalled to the Scotland team at the weekend but does not appear to be part of Glasgow’s long-term plans, and Simone Favaro, the Italian flanker, have yet to clarify their futures.
Signing Jones for Glasgow has been in the air for several months but only last week, he emphasised that he was under contract with the Stormers in South Africa for the rest of the Super Rugby season.
He will miss the first four rounds because he is on Scotland duty and, though the competition takes a break while northern hemisphere nations are touring the south in the summer, he may struggle to get back from Scotland’s tour in time to be ready the week the tournament resumes.
The irony of Jones’s move is that it was Townsend who heard about his Scottish connection – he was born in Edinburgh though he moved to England when young – and did a lot of the heavy lifting to get him north.
The way it has worked out, though, Jones will arrive after Townsend moves to take charge of Scotland.
“We first made contact with Huw three years ago when he was playing Varsity Cup rugby in Cape Town,” said Townsend. “It’s been great to see how much he has developed at both Currie Cup and Super Rugby level. He also played very well for Scotland during the Autumn Tests and I’m sure he will fit in very well at Scotstoun next season.”
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