Huw Jones

Huw Richard Forbes Jones (born 17 December 1993) is a Scottish professional rugby union player who plays as a centre for Top 14 club Toulon and the Scotland national team.

Early life Jones was born in Leith in Edinburgh in the Eastern General Hospital to parents Bill and Hillary. At the time of Jones' birth, his father coached at George Watson's College where Scott Hastings was among those he coached. His parents had previously studied at Edinburgh University. Jones' maternal grandfather is also Scottish. His father is Welsh reflected in the name, Huw Jones.

When he was two years old his family moved from Musselburgh to Kent, and then Lincoln. Jones was later schooled at Millfield in Somerset. He made a total of nine appearances for UCT during the 2014 Varsity Cup competition, scoring a try in their match against as UCT finished second in the pool stage. After beating Western Cape rivals in the semi-finals, the won the final against in Potchefstroom. Jones opened the scoring for the visitors by scoring a try in the fourth minute and helped them clinch the title in dramatic fashion as they fought back from 33 to 15 down with five minutes to go to achieve a 39–33 victory to win the competition for the second time.

Western Province and Stormers On the back of his performances for the during the 2014 Varsity Cup, Jones was called up to the Vodacom Cup side of local provincial team. He made his first class debut for them during the 2014 Vodacom Cup competition, starting in their match against the in Round Six of the competition. He took just eleven minutes to score his first try at senior level, setting Western Province on their way to a 28–15 victory. He also started the final group game of the competition against the in George.

In the latter half of 2014, he appeared for the side in the 2014 Under-21 Provincial Championship, making three starts and scoring two tries in their match against the team in Durban.

In 2015, Jones was included in the wider training group prior to the 2015 Super Rugby season. He scored a try in a trial match against the and was also included in their final squad. He was named on the bench for the opening match of the competition against the in Pretoria and came on as a replacement in the final minute of the match to make his Super Rugby debut. He also came off the bench in the next five matches, playing less than ten minutes on each occasion. He was promoted to the starting lineup for the Round Eight match against New Zealand side the in Wellington, starting at outside centre. In the 64th minute, Jones scored his first Super Rugby try, but it was not enough as the home side won 25–20. He reverted to his role as a replacement for the Stormers, making a further six appearances off the bench throughout the remainder of the competition before starting the final match of the regular season, a 12–34 defeat to the . The Stormers finished top of the South African Conference to qualify for the finals, but Jones was not involved in their 19–39 defeat to the in the eliminating qualifier.

He was included in 's squad for the 2015 Currie Cup Premier Division and made his Currie Cup debut in the Round Three match away to the , playing off the bench in a 29–47 defeat. He made his first start three weeks later against the , the start of an extended run in the team that saw him make four starts and four appearances as a replacement during the competition, scoring one try in the home match against the Blue Bulls. The final two of these appearances occurred in the play-offs after Western Province finished third on the log during the regular season; a last-minute substitute appearance in their 23–18 victory over the Blue Bulls in their semi-final match was followed by another appearance off the bench in the final, which the won 32–24 in Johannesburg.

Jones was involved in the Stormers' 2016 Super Rugby season, making six appearances off the bench prior to the international break, during which time he earned his first international call-up for Scotland.

On 28 October 2017, Jones scored two tries in a Man of the Match farewell performance as beat the Natal Sharks in the final to win the 2017 Currie Cup.

Glasgow Warriors Jones has stated that he always felt Scottish. He has kept a saltire above his bed since he was 11. When Jones started playing for the University of Cape Town he insisted on being referred to as Scottish. According to some sources it seems it was a Wikipedia that allowed Gavin Vaughan to see that Huw Jones was Scottish.

In February 2017, it was announced that the 2017 Super Rugby season would be Jones' last for the Stormers before he returned to Scotland.

Jones was drafted to Currie in the Scottish Premiership for the 2018–19 season.

On 25 December 2017, Glasgow Warriors announced that Jones had signed a contract until at least 2021. Jones cited the world class coaching as one of the reasons behind his decision.

Jones latterly was not selected, having struggled to assure coach Dave Rennie about his defence. He subsequently strongly improved this area of his game.

Harlequins On 26 February 2021, it was confirmed that Jones would leave Glasgow to travel to France to sign for Top 14 side Bayonne ahead of the 2021–22 season. However the move to Bayonne fell through when the French club were relegated to Rugby Pro D2. He signed for English side Harlequins in the Premiership Rugby for the 2021–22 season.

Glasgow Jones returned to Glasgow in 2022, playing under coach Franco Smith and often in centre partnership with Sione Tuipulotu. In November 2016 he played his first home match for Scotland against Australia, scoring two tries in the narrow defeat.

In February 2017, he was named in Scotland's squad for the 2017 Six Nations, starting their first two games against Ireland and France. During the 2017 Autumn Internationals, Jones scored tries in all three matches, against Samoa, the All Blacks and Australia.

Jones played all five of Scotland matches in the 2018 Six Nations, scoring 2 tries in Scotland's Calcutta Cup victory over England.

Jones played in the opening three matches of the 2019 Six Nations but was injured in Scotland's loss to Ireland and was ruled out for the remainder of the tournament. After being omitted from Scotland's 2019 Rugby World Cup squad, Jones was recalled for the 2020 Six Nations.

Jones was included in the 2023 Six Nations team of the tournament, as voted by the public. Jones was selected in Scotland's 33 player squad for the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France.

British and Irish Lions In May 2025, Jones was selected by head coach Andy Farrell for the 2025 British & Irish Lions tour to Australia.

He made his debut in the first tour match in Australia, a 7–54 victory over Western Force, becoming Lion #878. He scored a try in the second match against the Queensland Reds and two more in the following Saturday's 10–21 victory over the New South Wales Waratahs.

Jones was selected to start the first test and played the full 80 minutes of the 19–27 victory, during which he had a try disallowed. He was subsequently selected for the second test, in which he scored a try as the Lions secured a series victory.

Career statistics List of international tries

Scotland

11 November 2017 Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh, Scotland

2017 end-of-year rugby union internationals

18 November 2017 Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh, Scotland

2017 end-of-year rugby union internationals

25 November 2017 Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh, Scotland

2017 end-of-year rugby union internationals

11 February 2018 Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh, Scotland

2018 Six Nations Championship

14 March 2021 Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh, Scotland

2021 Six Nations Championship

20 March 2021 Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh, Scotland

2021 Six Nations Championship

4 February 2023 Twickenham Stadium, London, England

2023 Six Nations Championship

12 March 2023 Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh, Scotland

2023 Six Nations Championship

16 March 2024 Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Ireland

2024 Six Nations Championship

22 February 2025 Twickenham Stadium, London, England

2025 Six Nations Championship