Nigel Carolan has lavished praise on Huw Jones for his professionalism and character in dealing with being left out of the Glasgow Warriors squad against the Bulls.
Franco Smith faced a massive selection ahead of the Champions Cup last 16 clash at centre with Stafford McDowall preferred to Jones at outside centre.
It was unquestionably the correct call based on form and McDowall justified Smith’s show of faith with a man of the match display.
Jones is a world-class operator and rightfully earned a place in the World Rugby team of 2025 for his exploits for Scotland and the British & Irish Lions.
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Carolan admits head coach Smith had ‘sleepless nights’ over the decision but spoke glowingly about Jones’ reaction after learning of the call, despite naturally being disappointed.
“Huw's a great pro,” said Carolan. “He understands the situation. It's difficult. He had a really good Six Nations. It's a massive call. I don't envy the calls that Franco makes. It's tough. I think it does involve sleepless nights. Because you don't want to let anyone down.
“But I think when you see the work that Stafford does behind the scenes, from outside of our four walls, people might say, how can you not pick Huw Jones?
"He's in the World team of the year. But when you see what Stafford McDowall does for us, on our pitch here with our team, he adds so much value. He merited that Man of the Match award the other day.
“Huw's been brilliant. Again, he supported us really well last week. He was obviously disappointed. While you've got to wallow for a small period of time, he picked himself up and he prepared our team to be as good as we could have been at the weekend.
"He supported Stafford the best way he could be. He's a true professional player. He understands what Stafford brings as well. We'll see what happens this week.”
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