No timeline for Huw Jones ring-finger injury as Glasgow Warriors plan 'route up mountain'

Smith taking centre’s injury week by week after wife’s social media post update

Huw Jones suffered an injury while on Scotland duty.

Having lost one part of the much-vaunted “Huwipulotu” partnership a few weeks ago, Glasgow are now set to also be without the other half “for the foreseeable future”.

The knee injury sustained by Sione Tuipulotu against England proved costly to Scotland’s Six Nations’ prospects over the final two games and now Warriors wait to see just how they will cope without both him and fellow midfielder, Huw Jones.

Like Tuipulotu, Jones sustained his injury on international duty, damaging a finger in the first half of Scotland’s loss to Ireland in Dublin last weekend. A photo posted by his wife on social media showed Jones with his arm in a sling, with Glasgow head coach Franco Smith revealing it is a knock that will keep the centre out of Friday night’s United Rugby Championship match with Cardiff and beyond. With Warriors in contention both domestically and in the Champions Cup, it is an untimely loss.

“We’re not sure how long Huw will be out for yet,” said Smith. “It’s something that can heal more rapidly than one thinks but he won’t be available for the foreseeable future. He got injured during the match against Ireland, just before half-time apparently. It’s his ring finger on his right hand. It’s always difficult to gauge how long he’ll be out for as it’s a different injury from an arm or a leg. We’ll just have to take it week by week.”

Smith, though, has made a virtue of plugging round holes with square pegs since alighting in Scotstoun 20 months ago. The loss of Tuipulotu has seen Tom Jordan switch to centre from fly-half, while Stafford McDowall will slot in alongside him after making his Six Nations debut last weekend.

“Tom has been playing well for us in the last few weeks there and he’s always been an option for us there ever since Sam [Johnson] left,” added Smith. “He’s been contributing as always so hopefully he gets another good game under his belt this week. Stafford playing for Scotland last week was a good reward and well deserved after being man of the match in the two games that we played during the Six Nations. He’s been knocking on the door for a while. I’m sure he will want to continue his growth. The man that he is, it will all be about contributing to the team rather than being about him personally. He is eager to keep doing that and that was the message he gave us this week.”

Kyle Steyn, Jack Dempsey, Johnny Matthews and Matt Fagerson also return from the Scotland camp to start while promising centre Duncan Munn could make his debut off the bench in a match that will see Warriors move top – for 24 hours at least – if they can secure a bonus-point victory. “We don’t look at the table too much,” insisted Smith. “Any bonus point win is important for us but Cardiff will be a team coming here with a mission themselves. The target on our back just gets bigger and bigger as we go forward. We’ll have a tough fight and that’s where our focus sits. The rest will take care of itself. There’s always a plan. When you climb a mountain, you don’t just present the mountain. You find a route up the mountain.”