Scotland centre-slash-fullback Huw Jones will leave Harlequins after just one season in the Premiership, returning to Glasgow Warriors ahead of the 2022/23 season.
With further Scotland caps surely on his mind having flitted in and out of the national squad in recent seasons despite a high-scoring start to his test career.
He re-joins Danny Wilson’s squad in a move aimed at increasing depth across the backline. The man who won a Currie Cup with the Stormers sits one appearance shy of 50 appearances in Glasgow colours. Running out on to the pitch first on his first game back? Could be.
Jones scored 12 tries in total during his previous five-year stint at Scotstoun, but latterly fell out of favour with Dave Rennie and was often overlooked at centre in favour of, say, Nick Grigg. Before moving south he had appeared more regularly at fullback during Danny Wilson’s early tenure but left to find form and favour.
Last summer’s switch to Harlequins has seen him score seven tries in his 27 appearances for the London outfit to date; he was selected four times in the official Premiership Team of the Week, and was named as the league’s Player of the Round on two separate occasions in the 2021/22 season.
We wanted to add to our midfield to bring depth to an already strong position and the fact Huw can genuinely play other outside back positions will further enhance our squad depth for next season.
Danny Wilson, Glasgow Head Coach
Tries in all three November Tests in 2017 – against Samoa, New Zealand and Australia – were followed by an unforgettable brace against England in the 2018 Guinness Six Nations, part of a haul of 13 tries for his country.
The eventual scorer of the above try, Sean Maitland, also announced a new contract this week as he extended his career at Saracens for one more year.
30 Responses
I think this is a great move. Danny Wilson always said he didn’t want Jones to leave and with Jones’ quality at 13 it offers more scope for Tuipulotu to play 12. Should allow for a bit more rotation of the Glasgow centres. In my view this leaves Glasgow a good tighthead and a good 10 away from being a really serious side.
Yeah we’ll see. Jones lost all confidence under Rennie and has been rejuvenated under Quins. He’s played 27 games for them in all so he’s getting game time. If he comes back and plays well great, if he gets messed around again we’ve just wasted another Scottish centre talent.
Huw Jones will also bring his Quins experience to Warriors. If Wilson is open minded he is likely to nurture that.
I am a not complaining , I am surprised that a return to Glasgow is the best option for HJ. Mclean feels like the owner of the Glasgow 15 Jersey so I would imagine he is a centre.
I presume you mean a good 18 and a proven 22 for the big games. Zander has not had his best season but I am sure he will be better after a summer off and a proper pre-season. Piereto has been injured and Murphy Walker looks very promising. Ross Thompson is developing his distribution game and his kicking is already top drawer. We have not seen enough of Miotti to know whether he’s truly competing for the 10 shirt. Sadly Duncy Weir has had a run of poor games.
Yeah pretty much what you said. I believe in Zander but his scrummaging had suffered since Du Plessis left and he’s overworked. and thats because what’s behind him isn’t good enough, not if you really want to compete with the big guns.
Ross Thompson seems like a good decision maker and has an excellent kicking game but his passing, running and defense is no more than serviceable at the moment. I think he should model his game on George Ford who had similar attributes but he’s away to go. I’m sure Miotti was signed to be first choice 10 but we’ve barely seen him so not sure what’s going on there. However a big lock and a big back rower to give some go forward off the bench will work wonders.
This is great – Huw Jones is one of the few X-factor players, alongside Russell, Hogg, Darcy, VDM etc. Correctly harnessed – and not behind Grigg in the pecking order 🤷♂️🤷♂️🤷♂️ – this makes so much sense for Glasgow and Scotland. Hope Toonie isn’t too proud. Played much better in the first stint than given credit for (when playing of course), and player of month awards speaks to that. Not too late for the WC.
How long will Danny Wilson be around ? A new head coach may reorganise. It seems a strange move to me, with so much talent coming through at Glasgow. Mclean who is the best all round example of a FB we have seen in years has been moved aside for Ollie Smith for example. He is getting a game every week at Quins and surrounded by X factor players , Care, Marchant, Smith.
Looking forward to seeing him in the same team as McLean, maybe get a preview of that over the summer.
I think those calling for DW to move on need their head examined. The guy has literally just finished rebuilding the completely derelict squad he inherited and we can finally see if his game plan has and merit and you want to sack him and start all over with a new coach??? And on top of that you want a big name coach who costs so much there is nothing left to invest in the players as per under Rennie??? utter madness.
I also think Mclean is overrated at present, he’s so busy trying to do his step he’s blind to all other options and as butchered several good positions as a result. Additionally he’s played exclusively as a winger at pro level not FB.
The thing is, this is the season Wilson ran out of excuses and Glasgow were…deeply mediocre.
Scotland only has two pro-teams so the SRU needs to be setting expectations of high performance. This season was not good enough and the team look poorly coached. So what is the solution?
Not sure if Rennie’s salary was the reason for the decline in the squad strength but he delivered a final and two European QFs so he delivered good value. Wilson is not delivering anything at the moment.
Sam: Excuse me, I don’t think anyone called for DW to ‘move on’ ! Did they ? less of the ‘Head examined’ insults.
Glasgow’s last 2 coaches have moved to International top jobs and DW has nothing like their background pedigree. For that reason alone he has never felt like a long term solution to me.
No one expected much this season and we got what we expected which means all the questions on his suitability have yet to be answered.
It is in his hands but I would suggest he is either a very long term solution or a short term stop gap. If it is the former, the patience of Glasgow fans will not sustain a few more seasons like this.
Either way, I think it is a brave decision to put what is a very short career in the hands of an unproven coach. But then again, Huw Jones has shown nothing but bravery since showing up.
76 points against. Anyone that thinks Danny Wilson’s position is not in Jeopardy is deluded. That score is not comprehendible. There is really not much anyone can say. The silence is deafening.
What was that you were saying Sam ! Danny is not the only one who just lost his credibility battle.
This is a daft decision, a knee jerk reaction driven purely by fears over season ticket sales. There is no cogent succession planning here. DW has continued good recruitment which will still benefit the club next season although his successor will get the credit from the myopic fans who cannot see more than a week ahead. All that’s been achieved is putting Glasgow’s recovery from the Rennie era back another season while a new coach beds in. And who are they going to recruit now!! all the good coaches are tied down till after the world cup so they will end up appointing whoever is left. That new guy will get a small bump in results off the back of the new signings and new coach syndrome and will then get a big extension based on that and by the time it becomes apparent they don’t know what they’re doing another season will have gone by maybe two. and then you will be right back where you are now minus a load of cash. So well done! Clap, Clap, Clap.
Sam – feels like you boxed yourself into a position and now feel the need to justify it at all costs.
Leinster loss should be a huge reality check – Glasgow under Wilson were going nowhere least of all ‘recovering’. On Saturday they looked like a very poorly coached team with rock bottom morale. The club acted decisively which is to be applauded. Wilson asked to be judged on the results of this season and he was.
Sam, you chose the wrong option. Do not despair, now you are half right ,but still for all the wrong reasons. There may well be a shortage of money to spend on players but that will be down to the fact we have no European Cup income because Danny Wilson led us out of Europe. Closer but still no cigar, clap ,clap , clap.
3 different people on here have talked about McLean the full-back – does everyone mean McKay or am I going mad?
I was thinking that
McKay the fullback is not Scottish qualified. I’m hoping to see Rufus McLean the winger, alongside Jones at 13 and others over the summer.
Maybe not the place to put this but well done to Scotland beating England in the 7’s in the woman’s game
Congrats to La Rochelle yesterday. Despite the ref, they kept plugging away resulting in the try at the end! How many penalties did Leinster give away in the ‘red zone’ without a warning from the ref …. hhhhmmmmmm
Yes, I was amazed at the number of penalties from Leinster without as much as a warning never mind a yellow card. It’s another example of inconsistent refereeing – I’ve seen teams yellow carded after only three penalties in the red zone.
Leinster don’t play creative rugby. What they do is simple and risk free, but they are fast. La Rochelle in contrast, were entertaining but the current rules of rugby inhibits rather than rewards such play. It is a pity, but World Rugby does not seem to be interested in improving the game.
Anyone know when Scotland squad for tour announcement is?
Wednesday
I hope Danny Wilson does the honourable thing and resigns. This is abject failure and shouldn’t be accepted.
100%, Leinster are good but that wasn’t even their first team. One of the most embarrassing performances I cam remember from so called professionals. The players need to have a look at themselves as well. Tbh the whole URC thing has been a farce, on the upside (if you can call it that) I’ve been been enjoying the super 6 sprint series immensely, good games and good skills on show, more fun than watching the pro teams/URC.
Edinburgh were always up against it v Stormers so I suppose another ‘brave in defeat’ or similarly described outcome was kind of expected. Half-time scores level then a poor second half. Same old story for this season’s Edinburgh.
Warriors. Where to begin? Where does it end? Total surrender to Leinster to end an awful second half of the URC season for them.
Our two clubs’ form in recent months has been awful and it’s bitterly disappointing to witness.
yes very disappointing couple of results , particularly Glasgow capitulation. Back to perennial problem of not performing when it really matters – national team has same issue
A bit off topic but don’t know where to look, so apologies. Does anyone know if Finn Russell is injured. He hasn’t played for Racing 92 for a couple of weeks.