Huw Jones on France defeat, winning Scotland place back, and why playing with Finn Russell is a 'dream'

There’s a reason why France are ranked second in the world and they showed it in their ruthlessness against Scotland in Paris on Sunday.

They punished the Scots in the opening minutes to build an early lead which they never relinquished despite the best efforts of the visitors to claw their way back. Huw Jones, who scored a try in each half in another impressive performance, said it felt like a significant step up following the wins over England and Wales, ranked sixth and ninth respectively.

“The difference is that they made us pay for our mistakes, just little things in transition: we lose the ball and we’re tracking back, 60 metres back upfield defending your line. Little things made a big difference,” said Jones. “But we know what we can do both sides of the ball. When we’ve got the ball we can really go at teams and score points. But they were definitely the best team we’ve played so far in this championship. They’ve earned their second spot in the world, but I felt we could have come away with a win.”

The loss of early tries to Romain Ntamack, Ethan Dumortier and Thomas Ramos left Scotland with too much to do and although Jones led the fightback, along with Finn Russell who scored the visitors’ third try, France eventually pulled away to win 32-21, with a late score from Gael Fickou.

Scotland centre Huw Jones grapples for the ball with France's Gael Fickou during the Six Nations defeat in Paris. (Photo by ANNE-CHRISTINE POUJOULAT/AFP via Getty Images)

Jones now has three tries in three matches from this season’s Guinness Six Nations and the Glasgow Warriors centre is firmly back in the international fold. He was overlooked for last season’s championship and then missed the summer tour to Argentina and the autumn series because of a back injury.

“It’s great to be back in, on a personal level,” he said. “It’s obviously been a while so I’m just grateful to have the opportunity to be back in the shirt and play again. The fact we’re playing exciting rugby is a massive thing. I got on the end of a couple of tries. I’m happy with that and where this team is going.”

Jones’ ability to link with Finn Russell and Sione Tuipulotu has added an extra potency to Scotland’s midfield and Jones said playing with the stand-off meant there were always opportunities.

“Playing outside Finn is a dream, at times he’s got defenders on strings,” said the centre. “All options are on and when he’s able to pick the right one and play flat at the line, it’s great to play outside him. All options are on around Finn so you’ve got to be ready for it.”

Scotland now have a free week before rounding off their Six Nations campaign with two home matches, against Ireland and Italy. It’s the Irish up first, on March 12, and having faced the second best side in the world Scotland must now take on the number one.

“It’s a challenge I’m looking forward to,” added Jones. “They’re playing really good rugby, they’re number one in the world but at home we back ourselves against anyone. We’ve shown that we can play well at Murrayfield, that it’s a tough place to come for the away team.”