Glasgow winger Lee Jones aims to keep the big games coming this season – starting tomorrow against Cardiff Blues.

Jones has featured in both of Dave Rennie’s first two games in charge – both victories – and scored a try in their Guinness PRO14 opener.

The 29-year-old delivered some impressive displays in the European Champions Cup last season and is determined to make his mark again.
Jones said: “It’s been the same for everybody with a new coach coming in, everyone wants to impress.

“Dave [Rennie] has obviously watched a lot of rugby by Glasgow over the last year, so he’s got an idea of the players. 

“He will been told a lot as well, but there’s nothing like him seeing you play and making his judgements on that. For everyone, it’s important to try to impress.

“The wing is a challenging spot in this team, there is a lot of competition. I just want to be playing as consistently as possible and nail down a starting spot when it comes to the big games.

“There is obviously rotation within the squad but when it comes to those big games I want to be in the starting spot.”

Jones is fully aware of the perils of trying to impress a new coach that you deserve a staring berth every week.

He was a high flyer at Edinburgh before they changed coaches when Alan Solomons was brought in at Murrayfield and his career crashed to a shuddering halt. 

Until then, he had been a team regular, playing 55 times since breaking into the team three seasons earlier. However, at 5 ft 11in and weighing in at less than 14 stone, he never suited the robust pattern the new man was looking for and played only twice more before being offered on loan to Glasgow.

So he could have been forgiven the odd sleepless night when he learned he was going to face the same changeover at his current club.

So far, any worries have proved unfounded. He has played both the games so far and looks likely to be in there again when the team to travel to Cardiff Blues is announced later today.  Jones has also revived his international career in recent months. 

The former Edinburgh player appeared four times in the 2012 Six Nations but had to wait five years for his fifth cap.

It proved worth the wait as he helped Scotland to a momentous victory over Australia and he was included in Gregor Townsend’s training camp last month.

“It was really good to get in the camp a couple of weeks ago and get back in that environment,” he said ahead of Glasgow’s encounter against Cardiff in the Welsh capital on Saturday.

“To go on tour and come back into that training squad was really good. it was good to link up with the guys again and I really want to push on from my experiences on the tour.

“Obviously you need to be playing well for your club so that’s the main focus for me now.”

Jones reinforced his reputation with the Warrior Nation as a valuable player at Scotstoun with some stellar performances last season.

And now he’s aiming to carry that form into the new Pro14 campaign which has just started by maintaining Glasgow’s 100 per cent record.

“Last season was really positive for me,” he added. “It was great to get on [the Scotland] tour at the end of it and it has been great to get a run in the first couple of games.

“It’s been good to get more consistent game time and perform well. Hopefully that will continue.”

Warriors travel to take on a Cardiff side tomorrow which has yet to post any points on the board in the Pro14 – but Jones is taking nothing for granted.

He added: “They [Cardiff] must be pretty disappointed and will be looking for a response, especially at home.

“They will want something to show the crowd. It will be a tough game for us, even though we won the first two games, there is a lot we can 
improve on.”