Huw Jones burst onto the international rugby scene in a hurry but his path to the Lions has involved rather more patience.

The Scotland centre will head to Australia this summer for his first British & Irish Lions Tour at the age of 31, nine years on from a whirlwind emergence at Test level.

Injuries and dips in form meant that he was not really in contention for either of the last two Lions Tours, but third time has proven the charm for the Glasgow Warriors centre.

With Sione Tuipulotu, centre partner for club and country, also heading Down Under, Jones will be looking to make a big impression against the Wallabies.

This is his journey:

Memories of 2005

While fellow 2025 squad member Henry Pollock’s first memories of the Lions were just eight years ago in New Zealand, Huw Jones has been desperate to perform in front of the Sea of Red for much longer.

In fact, it was the previous Tour of New Zealand that gave him a first understanding of what the Lions involved.

He recalled: “It popped into my head that I think before the 2005 Tour, I would have been 11 or 12 and I remember with my mate that we used to play club rugby together, his dad would take us to the games and we would spend hours naming our squads and thinking who should be in. To be on the other side of that conversation and be involved is such a special feeling.

“I’ll ring my mate and say, ‘Do you remember that? How cool that was.’ It’s been a dream for such a long time. In the last year or so, it’s only really become a goal very recently. To achieve that is the pinnacle of the sport.

“We’re still family friends, I don’t speak to him regularly, but we’re still good mates. He’s a doctor and I’m pretty sure he works in Australia, so I’ll need to phone him and check. It would be pretty cool if I get to see him out there. It would be quite a nice moment.”

Globetrotting existence

That came when Jones was a youngster playing for Canterbury rugby club in Kent, having moved there from Edinburgh when he was just two years old.

It was the first of a number of moves for Jones, who studied at Millfield before moving over to South Africa on his gap year.

Working in Cape Town, he quickly caught the eye on the rugby pitch and earned an opportunity with Ikey Tigers and then as part of the Western Province set-up.

A Super Rugby debut with the Stormers followed in 2015 as Jones flourished in his new home.

Breaking through

Those performances did not go unnoticed, with the centre something of a surprise call-up from Vern Cotter for Scotland’s summer tour of Japan in 2016.

Still plying his trade in South Africa, he had clearly done enough to stand out for Cotter, and a two-try showing in his first meeting with Australia showed his knack for the try-line.

The following year, he made his Six Nations debut, although injury in the final game ended any hopes of a Lions call-up to cap off his first season of international rugby.

He said: “In terms of my career, especially international career, there have been a fair few ups and downs. I made my debut in 2016, and I was actually injured in 2017, I got injured in the last game of the Six Nations, so I knew I was completely out for that one. Then, I would have been considered a bolter. I wasn’t really kind of worried about it back then.”

Still, Jones bounced back from that injury, adding two tries that autumn including one in a victory over Australia, while he also played a key role in Western Province winning the Currie Cup in his final game in South Africa.

Jones then moved to Glasgow Warriors and hit the ground running back in Scotland, enjoying a stellar 2018 Six Nations.

At that point, he seemed poised to be Scotland’s outside centre for the foreseeable future, but injuries and a loss of form saw him fall out of favour.

That meant that he was not really in the conversation for selection when the Lions toured South Africa four years ago, with injury also ruling him out.

He added: “In 2021, I was injured again but hadn’t been featuring much, I’d played in the Six Nations but on the bench mainly.”

Timing

Jones departed Glasgow just as Tuipulotu arrived, heading to Harlequins for a season.

But after returning to the Warriors, the pair struck up a fantastic partnership both on and off the pitch.

That resulted in a Scotland recall for Jones, and his 2024/25 season has been among his best yet.

He kicked off his Six Nations campaign with a hat-trick against Italy, with another try against England taking his tally to six in Calcutta Cup clashes.

Though injury then slowed his progress upon his return to club action, Jones had done enough to earn a spot in Andy Farrell’s team – even if there were a few nerves on announcement day.

He said: “Those two previous times, I wasn’t sat in the room sweating like I was this time. A lot of it is down to timing and being on form at the right time, and fit at the right time.

“I feel really thankful to the medical team, to the coaches who have been selecting me for the last couple of seasons that I’ve got myself into a position to be fit and play well to put myself in that picture.

“It’s the pinnacle of rugby for me. I am a rugby fan, I grew up obsessed with rugby. I’ve been watching the Lions for years and years, those have been my rugby heroes, my whole life. To now be named in that squad, it’s such a special moment for me.”

From looking up to those rugby heroes to becoming one for the next generation. Two decades on, Jones’s Lions dreams are becoming a reality.