Huw Jones: Glasgow 'very confident' Scotland centre will sign new deal
- Published
Jones has scored 10 tries in 19 Tests for Scotland
Glasgow Warriors are "very confident" Huw Jones will sign a new contract with the club, says assistant coach Jason O'Halloran.
The Scotland centre, 24, has been linked with a move away from Scotstoun when his deal expires in the summer.
Last month, head coach Dave Rennie said Jones' future would be clarified "in the next couple of weeks".
"It will be a great fillip for the club with Stuart Hogg moving on," O'Halloran said of retaining Jones.
"It's great that potentially we're going to look after Huw and keep him around.
"We're very confident he's going to be back on board."
The contracts of other key players at Scotstoun also expire at the end of the season, including those of scrum-half George Horne and fly-half Adam Hastings, both of whom featured for Scotland in November's autumn Test series.
"There's definitely priorities around those two young half-backs in particular to have them stay at the club," O'Halloran told BBC Sport.
"Along with Matt Fagerson, that eight, nine, 10 triumvirate with those three young guys is looking really strong. That's a crucial backbone to the team and it's something we'd like to secure the future of very quickly."
Rennie for All Blacks job?
All Blacks head coach Steve Hansen has announced he will step down after next year's World Cup.
The New Zealand Rugby Union says it will not start the formal recruitment process until after the tournament.
Hansen's assistant Ian Foster is favourite for the role, while Joe Schmidt and Warren Gatland have also been linked as they depart their jobs with Ireland and Wales respectively after Japan 2019.
But New Zealander O'Halloran believes Rennie, who has won two Super Rugby titles, would be a good candidate.
"A guy like Dave would have to be well in the pecking order, he's got a great record back home with the Chiefs, I think he's one of the best New Zealand coaches," said O'Halloran.
"It definitely gives you a much better, more rounded perspective as a coach to coach over this side of the world.
"A lot of the changes we've made to our game plan is because Dave understands what the game needs over this side of the world now. So I think he's got every chance."