Glasgow Warriors are confident of retaining the services of Huw Jones beyond the end of his current deal in the summer, according to assistant coach Nigel Carolan, who dismissed reports from France that the Scotland centre has agreed a deal with Montpellier.
Respected French newspaper Midi Olympique reported Jones is close to a deal with the Top 14 side, adding Bayonne are also interested in the 30-year-old.
Attack coach Carolan poured cold water on those rumours when he spoke to the media at Scotstoun on Tuesday.
He said: "Huw is very happy here and you can see that in the way he’s playing, not just for Glasgow but also for Scotland.
“He’s on fire and very happy with how he’s tracking along. As far as I’m aware negotiations are going very well with him. We’re looking forward to keeping him not only with Glasgow but also in Scotland.”
Carolan said while negotiations are ongoing, he is “very confident” the Scotland centre will commit his future to the club.
He said: “We’re very confident he’ll be looking forward to another couple of years with Glasgow. He’s in the form of his life and him and Sione [Tuipulotu] have formed a tremendous partnership both for us and for Scotland.”
He said interest in the Scotland centre is to be expected given his current form.
Carolan added: "When the team is winning their stock goes up and performance is currency. When players are playing well, teams do well, and then everyone wants a piece of them. But at the moment these guys are happy playing here and they’re looking to stay here.
“Rumours are always going to be rife at this time of year so we don’t pay too much attention to that. We’re just continuing to work with Huw to try to ensure that we can do everything possible for him to stay. Talks are ongoing.”
Jones is now in his second spell at Glasgow having initially joined the club from South African side Stormers shortly after his international breakthrough in 2017.
He left the club in 2021 when he was due to join Bayonne, but their relegation from the French top flight saw the deal scrapped. He joined Harlequins instead.
Meanwhile, Carolan said Sione Tuipulotu is a major doubt for the remainder of Scotland’s Six Nations campaign after picking up a knee injury in the win over England.
The centre picked up the injury in the first half and managed to play on until the break, but was limping badly after the resumption and was replaced by Cam Redpath on 42 minutes.
Carolan believes he’ll definitely miss the trip to Rome next weekend, and has only an “outside” shot at playing in the championship finale against Ireland.
“Whether he makes it back in the next couple of weeks – probably not. I’d say he could be four or five weeks away. I’d say [definitely not] for Italy and an outside chance for Ireland.”
Scottish Rugby are still awaiting the results of a scan on the knee, but Carolan said the injury isn’t as bad as first feared.
"The fact it happened early in the game and he played for 40 minutes suggests it might not be too bad, perhaps similar to Rory Darge when he hurt his knee.
“I don’t think it’s as bad as first feared and hopefully we’ll have Sione back for the not-too-distant future.”
In more positive news, Glasgow will welcome back a handful of Scotland squad members for their trip to Treviso on Saturday.
Up front, they’ll have Jamie Bhatti and Johnny Matthews back from Gregor Townsend’s national set-up, while behind the scrum Jamie Dobie, Ross Thompson and Stafford McDowall are all available to Franco Smith.
Carolan said: “It will be a similar squad to the one that went out against Dragons.
“Slowly but surely some of our injured players are starting to come back and build depth. There’s a lot of young guys there too, even the two locks [Alex Samuel and Max Williamson] who are great performers.
“At this time of year when you don’t have everyone available it’s also an opportunity for others here to get some exposure at a good level.”
Sione Vailanu and Sebastian Cancelliere are also back in training, but Carolan said a decision on their availability will be taken later in the week.
Franco Smith rotated his squad heavily in the early part of the season, and Carolan belives that will stand Glasgow in good stead ahead of a tricky away trip.
“You have to take your hat off to Franco - he chopped and changed for this reason, to give guys exposure and drip feed them into the team. This is why.
“We want to still be competitive and bring the best version of our game onto the field.”
The attack coach expects a tough test when Glasgow face Benetton this weekend, with the Italian side able to call upon former Wasps fly-half Jacob Umaga and ex-All Blacks centre Malakai Fekitoa.
He added: “Benetton are a tough team to beat, especially at home. They’ve recruited well to deal with the absence of their internationals and have a good crop of foreign players like Malakai Fekitoa who make them very competitive.
“We’re so close together in the table so there’s a big swing depending on the outcome of this game.”
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