Huw Jones starred to help Glasgow Warriors qualify for the Investec Champions Cup knockouts for the first time in five years. The centre scored two and set up one as the Scottish side beat Toulon 29-5 at Scotstoun in the final round of pool games in the Investec Champions Cup. After the match, Glasgow captain Sione Tuipulotu joked that Jones had been inspired by the prospect of securing a new cont
Sione Tuipulotu joked that Huw Jones was “playing for a contract” as the Glasgow Warriors centre pairing wreaked havoc on the Toulon defence in a 29-5 drubbing at Scotstoun.
Jones has been deputising on the wing due to Glasgow’s injury woes but returned to 13 to devastating effect, scoring two and setting up one to help The Warriors qualify for the Investec Champions Cup knockouts for just the fourth time in 24 attempts.
His performance earned him the Player of the Match award and will surely have Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend licking his lips with the Six Nations right around the corner.
Speaking after the Pool 3 encounter, Tuipulotu was full of praise for his midfield partner.
“I’ve played a lot of rugby now with Huw and it’s pretty seamless when he gets back in the middle,” he said. “I know he’s been out on the wing and to be honest, it’s credit to him. He’s done a really good job for us with all the injuries that we’ve had but I said to him this week if we get back in the midfield together that we would try and cook up something.
“Thankfully Shuggy was running those lines well and I know where he is most of the time and he runs off me really nicely and I just tried to find him put him in space.”
That was the formula for two of Glasgow’s five tries. The first was finished off by Kyle Rowe but it was made by the dynamic duo known as Huwipulotu.
Jones was found in space by the Glasgow captain and his offload out of the tackle gave Rowe the simple task of dotting down.
Nine minutes later the Tuipulotu pass was timed to perfection and this time Jones was able to finish it off before he capped off a dazzling performance with a stunning solo effort in the second half.
John Barclay stopped short of describing their relationship as telepathic but was in awe at how well the pair gel.
Barclay’s fellow former Scotland international Stuart Hogg was also mightily impressed with Jones at full-time.
“We touched on it pre-match about how much of a confidence player he is and to me he looks like he’s high on confidence,” Hogg said on TNT Sports. “He wants to have a massive impact in the game.
“That running line off Sione but this is just out and out gas. He sees an opportunity, [does a] little goose-step and you ain’t catching him and that is an incredible finish [for the] bonus-point try.
“And then the best thing for Shuggy was literally after he did that, he was subbed off. He got the biggest standing ovation I’ve ever seen at Scotstoun.”
Scotland fans will be hoping Huwipulotu carries this form into the Six Nations as they bid for a first title this century.
As for Glasgow supporters, Tuipulotu quipped they can expect to see Jones for the foreseeable future, adding: “He told me he’s playing for a contract out there so he’s done his 60 minutes [and then] he said, ‘Contract’s done, I’m out’.”
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