Huw Jones sees Ireland clash as chance to show how far Scotland have come

Huw Jones has called on Scotland to prove they have developed into genuine title contenders by finally landing an elusive win over Ireland next Sunday.

The experienced centre scored a hat-trick as the Scots kicked off their Guinness Six Nations campaign by defeating spirited Italy 31-19 at Murrayfield on Saturday.

But Jones knows his side will need “a really special performance” if they are to end a 10-game losing streak against the Irish since they last beat them in February 2017, four months before current head coach Gregor Townsend took charge.

“Look, we’ve wanted this one for a long time and never quite got it, so it’s a huge challenge for us,” Jones said of Ireland’s upcoming visit to Edinburgh.

“They’re obviously a very, very good side. And they’ve shown that with all the results in the past – not just against us, but against a lot of other teams.

“We know it’s going to be a massive challenge. It’s a real cliché, but it’s the big-match temperament, that’s what we need to find within this squad. 

"We’ve had it in games in the past but never strung it together. I feel like I say the same thing every year.

“Next week is a chance for us to show how much growth we’ve made. This is the one we want. I mean, they’ve had our number for years now so it’s time to front up and have a really special performance.

“You obviously don’t want to say anything that is going to come back to bite you. 

"I think we have an inner belief in our squad, but we’ve said that before and not been on the right side of the result, so it’s about just turning up and getting the job done.

“We believe we can win, but it’s going out there and doing it. And that’s the real test.” 

Scotland held 14-0 and 19-6 leads against Italy following first-half tries by Rory Darge, Jones and Ben White but they were pegged back to 19-19 early in the second half after some flawless long-distance goal-kicking by Tommaso Allan and a breakaway try by Juan Ignacio Brex.

But two scores from Jones in the final quarter took the game away from the Azzurri and secured a bonus-point victory for Townsend’s men as they won their opening fixture in the championship for the fifth year running.

“I think it has been a good start,” said Jones. 

“I think the fact that the game wasn’t perfect and there were swings of momentum is probably quite good preparation for us.

“There’ll definitely be work-ons, so we’ll look at that in the next couple of days, but the way we wrestled back control and didn’t panic when things went wrong, that was a big focus for us coming into the Six Nations.

“No game’s ever going to be perfect. There’ll be times – swings of momentum – we may go ahead, they may go ahead, but it’s about staying in the fight, not letting the game get away from us, and being there right at the end.” 

Jones got himself two simple finishes after keeping pace with jet-heeled wings Duhan van der Merwe and Darcy Graham before completing his first Scotland hat-trick with a magnificent solo effort.

“The tries were all different,” he said. 

“I was pretty happy to follow Darcy and Duhi around the field and get the passes off them. And then the other one, I had to do a little bit more work for it. I’m really happy to get three tries, it’s always special.”

Meanwhile, Simon Easterby described the choice of Sam Prendergast over Jack Crowley as just one of six or seven “tough calls” before Saturday’s Six Nations win against England.

The evidence after that Championship opener is that the selection meeting for next Sunday’s follow-up away to Scotland won’t be any easier.

The impact of Ireland’s bench was enormous. 

The hosts scored 22 unanswered points to lock the game down starting with a try just two minutes after Jack Crowley, Dan Sheehan and Jack Conan were all rolled on.

Easterby’s side was already gaining the upper hand by then but the efforts of that trio and others like Robbie Henshaw makes for an intriguing week ahead and nowhere will the debate be more engaging than at No.10.

Same as it ever was.

England coach Steve Borthwick singled out Crowley as one of the key reasons for Ireland’s win but Prendergast is as cool a customer off the field as he appears on it, regardless of how heated the out-half debate tends to be.

“The only pressure I feel is what is inside the group and inside me,” said the 21-year old. 

“Obviously you want to be the starting ten for Ireland and Leinster, but I wouldn’t be listening to too much outside noise on the pressure of that.

“It’s internal pressure. You want to be starting but there is not too much of a rivalry between us. We work together quite well.” 

Reports in November suggested a slightly testier relationship than that but it would be odd to expect everything to be peace and harmony and brotherly love when there are players vying for places in one of the world’s top teams.

Players are competitive animals and that starts in training every day even if no-one expects a return to the days when Ronan O’Gara and Johnny Sexton would sit silently in the same car on the way to kicking practises.

“Me and Jack get along very well but there is also [Ciaran Frawley] who we get on very well with also. Tens do a lot of kicking together and when there’s an off day, and there’s only the three of us kicking, it would be a bit awkward if we didn’t get on.

“We travel in the same car to and from kicking. We give ideas to each other in training or in meetings. 

"It’s good to learn off each other. There are only so many reps in training, you’d love to have infinite reps. So you learn from their experiences of certain plays. That’s helpful.”