Glasgow Warriors don't want to be a team that's all talk and no actions

Centre Jones says Warriors must step up and be counted when it matters most

Glasgow Warriors’ progress under head coach Franco Smith has been clear but Huw Jones feels it will only be properly validated when the team is winning key games and lifting trophies.

Warriors suffered a setback when they were beaten by Northampton Saints in their opening match of the Investec Champions Cup, leaving them veering into must-win territory when they travel to play Bayonne in France on Friday night. It was a third such frustration at a pivotal moment this year, with the Scotstoun side also beaten in their home United Rugby Championship quarter-final tie with Munster before also losing the Challenge Cup final to Toulon.

Jones feels that’s left the squad with plenty to prove if Glasgow are to be considered one of the leading lights in European rugby. “People talk about us having a pretty good season last year but we didn’t win anything,” said the Scotland centre, recently recovered from a foot injury. “We didn’t win the Challenge Cup when we could have announced ourselves in that. We were kind of dominated by Toulon in the final and didn’t show up for that game. And we didn’t reach the final or semi-final of the URC -– so it’s not just the Champions Cup.

Huw Jones wants something tangible to show for Glasgow Warriors' efforts.

“We had some good wins but we came out with nothing to show for it. If we think we’re a team who should be making it to finals we have to be proving that against the best teams. You look at the URC and we should be in the playoffs come the end of the season. We were last year but didn’t perform here in the quarter-final.

“With the Champions Cup you have to almost win all of your games as it’s a really tough competition with the top teams in Europe. There will be teams with bigger budgets and squads but you have to compete against them if you want to claim to be a top team. It would be nice to go far in the competition but we have to go out and prove that in the early stages. We have to keep improving and getting big results.”