Glasgow Warriors head coach Franco Smith has allayed fears over Huw Jones’ fitness for the British & Irish Lions tour, despite the centre’s ongoing Achilles tendon struggles.
Jones, who returned to action earlier this month after a long layoff, was originally named to start Friday’s Vodacom URC quarter-final against the Stormers at Scotstoun but was withdrawn after the injury flared up again in training.
“Unfortunately since the Six Nations, Huw has been struggling with that,” Smith was quoted by The Scotsman. “It’s not a muscle injury, it’s a tendon issue.
“It flares up and takes a lot of time to get the inflammation gone. He’s not been available. All our Lions haven’t been available much since the Six Nations.”
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Stafford McDowall will start in Jones’ place at No 13 while Sione Tuipulotu, also recently back from injury, continues his comeback.
“When this thing re-occurred at the back end of last week, it looked treatable and we managed it well,” said Smith. “But it just flared up again on Tuesday.
“Now we have to take a deeper look and get the inflammation down, so he can play in any other game we hopefully have going forward.”
Smith stressed that the injury won’t derail Jones’ Lions chances.
“No, not at all,” he said. “Huw is an important player for us and it’s important that he gets well. I think he’s going to play a lot of rugby still [this year].”
“Without becoming a doctor in five minutes, it’s something that will be managed for the rest of his career. I had similar problems at the end of mine. But it is treatable, it is manageable, and I’m sure he’ll be back fighting as early as next week.”
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