Huw Jones: Scotland must beat Australia to be taken seriously

Wins over Fiji and Portugal have come either side of a defeat by world champions South Africa – a side Gregor Townsend has yet to beat in his seven-and-a-half years as Scotland head coach. 

Scotland wasted several big chances against the Springboks, and Jones knows they can ill-afford to let a similar opportunity slip this weekend. 

  “We had the opportunity to be in it more and give ourselves a chance to win,” he said of the 32-15 loss to Rassie Erasmus’ side.  

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“We don't get to play them very often, so any time you get a chance like that and a chance at home, you see it as a missed opportunity. So obviously looking forward to finishing hopefully on a high this week would be good.” 

Jones knows the hosts must deliver a third victory of the campaign on Sunday.  

The centre said: “Looking at the games coming in, we knew obviously the South Africa and Australia games would be the big challenges.  

“We obviously have aspirations to be successful as a team, as a squad and we have to be winning the games against the top seven teams in the world. 

“Those are games that we have to start winning now if we really want to be taken seriously.  

“It's all well and good beating Fiji and Portugal and winning our games on the summer tour, but we want to take strides. 

Huw Jones in action against South Africa (Image: SNS) “The South Africa game was disappointing, but we've got to nail it this weekend against Australia.” 

Jones, too, has happy memories of the fixture having scored twice on his first appearance at Murrayfield when the Wallabies visited in 2016, while the centre was back among the tries 12 months later as in a 53-24 win.  

But the Glasgow Warriors man knows the Wallabies are improving under Joe Schmidt.   

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“They've been really good,” he said.  

“They've got threats everywhere. You see the way their forwards are carrying and you see what their backs are doing, I think it's an exciting challenge.   

"When we've played against Australia in the past, it's been a pretty fun one to be involved in. We'd hope for that again and we'd hope to imprint our game onto them.” 

Scotland have won three of the last four meetings against Australia and narrowly missed out on making it four in a row two years ago. Jones believes there is not the same fear factor attached to this weekend’s opponents as there is with New Zealand or South Africa.  

"When you have beaten a side, obviously you have that realisation that it's possible,” the 30-year-old said.  

“We obviously haven't beaten South Africa [in recent years]. I've never beaten South Africa. So, I think when you've not done it for a while or this group of players hasn't done it, maybe going into that game you see it as a bigger challenge.

Huw Jones celebrates his try in the 2017 win over Australia (Image: SNS) "Whereas going into a game against a team that you've beaten more recently, and guys have got experience of that, maybe it's less of a challenge.” 

Jones would likely have expected to line up against Len Ikitau and Samu Kerevi in the midfield, but with the latter suspended, Joseph Sua'ali'i - the rugby league convert who made his debut in the 15-a-side game as Australia beat England earlier this month – is likely to start again.  

And the experienced Scotland centre knows that could present both opportunities and challenges for Scotland this weekend.  

Of the NRL convert, Jones said: “He's obviously got threats of his own, both sides of the ball. But with our attack, we're always looking for a chink in the armour and opportunities where we can exploit them.  

“There may be opportunities elsewhere and we've got to take the right opportunity wherever they may be.” 

If there are opportunities, Jones could add to his tally of tries against Australia after surpassing head coach Gregor Townsend in the all-time try charts earlier this autumn.  

Jones scored his 18th and 19th international tries in the win over Fiji (Image: SNS) With 19 tries from his 52 caps, Jones is seventh on the all-time list but might have a job on his hands catching wing duo Duhan van der Merwe and Darcy Graham, who are 10 ahead and tied for the record.  

“I'd like to think I could chase down Duhi and Darcy, but they're quite a way ahead of me,” Jones said.