Huw Jones’s defence was what cost him his Scotland place – but he’s proud of how hard he’s worked to turn it around.
Jones could hardly have had a more glorious start to his international career, scoring 10 tries in his first 14 tests. While that was always unsustainable, it fell away alarmingly and he had no scores in his next 14.
Saturday’s try against England, in his first start for two years, turned that full circle.
Since his whirlwind start, Huw’s defensive play came under intense scrutiny, particularly after the November test against Wales in 2018, where he missed two tackles that resulted in tries.
Unfair, ‘lazy’ criticism
⚡️ Huw Jones strikes at Twickenham again! #ENGvSCO #GuinnessSixNations pic.twitter.com/RItuD5wEau
— Planet Rugby (@PlanetRugby) February 4, 2023
Back in the team as a starter and facing Wales again this weekend, the Glasgow centre accepts that he’s had to work on that side of his game. But he thinks he was unfairly pigeon-holed as a poor defender.
“There is that attitude of some that the more prolific an attacker you are, the worse defender you’re going to be,” he said.
“I personally like the quote, ‘you’re never as good as they say you are, and you never as bad as they say you are’. A lot was made of my weaknesses in defence and some of it was pretty harsh and not quite accurate.
“I have missed some tackles, but so has everyone. Some of the tackles I missed led to tries and that really sucks, but that is just the nature of being an outside back sometimes. That’s where the space is.”
But he knew he had to work to fine tune his skills and has done that.
“It did hurt me that my defence was a big focal point for a number of years,” he continued. “I wanted to improve that and I knew it was an area where I needed to get better.
“But some of the criticism in the last couple of years has been lazy as I’ve been branded as a poor defender, when recently my defence has been good. I hope that stigma is now changing as I’m putting in good defensive performances.”
Tandy’s system promotes trust
5 – @Scotlandteam's Huw Jones has now scored five tries in five @SixNationsRugby matches against England – only Jason Robinson (6) has more in this fixture. Rivalry. pic.twitter.com/miw0hvsZOj
— OptaJonny (@OptaJonny) February 4, 2023
Working within Steve Tandy’s system for Scotland has also helped, he added.
“Steve’s really helped me out,” he said. “He’s got a great system and everyone’s on the same page.
“Thirteen is a hard channel to defend in and you can be put under a lot of pressure, almost hung out to dry at times. But with the team we’ve got and the trust we have in our defensive system that happens a lot less.
“A lot of it is making sure you’re in the right place. There are a lot of split-second decisions when you have multiple runners running different sides of you and different angles.
“It is about being able to read that, makes the right decision, and then tackle selection. It’s complicated, but it’s something I’m really confident about nowadays.”
Perhaps even more pressure was heaped on Huw replacing Chris Harris, acknowledged as the defensive lynchpin in the Scotland side.
“I wasn’t expecting it, but I wouldn’t say it was daunting,” he said. “Chris is a fantastic player and in camp he’s been a big help to me.
“He wasn’t negative at all about the selection. He’s there and helping us out. And he’s still a defensive leader in those leadership groups and still taking charge of that.”
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