Scotland centre Huw Jones continues to provide a mystery at Glasgow Warriors, as a player who provides a sharp cutting edge is restricted to cameos by a team in need of a cutting edge.

Bring ‘nilled’ by the European champions cannot be put down to the selection at outside centre, but Jones showed when he came on in Exeter a threat and intent that Glasgow had been lacking.

This is the last season of Jones’s current contract at Glasgow, having previously turned down Leicester to stay, but he may need to move on next summer for more regular first team action in his favoured position of outside centre.

Finding bright sparks in the Glasgow performance in Exeter was a bit of a straw-clutching activity, but the performance of Jones in the closing minutes was one as his speed off the mark and selection of angles tested the home defence.

It is a common story. Away to Cardiff Blues he came off the bench to create and then score the match-clinching try, away to the Ospreys he was one of the most dangerous players from full back after scoring the opening try.

Glasgow head coach Danny Wilson has been considering Jones as a back three player predominantly this season, playing more games at 15 than 13 and coming on as a replacement wing in Exeter.

It has been a similar case of being a bit-part player with Scotland, after starting the first two Six Nations matches back in February.

Jones had been a spectator, until coming off the bench at the end of the Autumn Nations Cup campaign in Ireland, as Gloucester’s defensively-minded Chris Harris seemed to nail down the outside centre selection.

With Stuart Hogg and Blair Kinghorn at full back for Scotland, a strong set of centres in Glasgow including Sam Johnson and Nick Grigg, along with injured Kyle Steyn, Jones may be caught between two stools.

A player with 10 international tries in 26 appearances, who did so much to transform Scotland’s try-scoring potential, has been left out as coach Gregor Townsend prefers the bludgeon of Harris to Jones’s rapier.

The reason most often quoted for such a decision is Jones’s defence, but Glasgow struggled in the 13 channel in Exeter where the home side did most of the damage away from their power-pack.

“In terms of defensive mis-reads in the 13 channel, we stepped in a few times on poor reads and allowed them access out there a couple of times as well so we will obviously need to look at that and patch it up,” admitted Wilson after the game.

“We will sit down and have a good look at the game and go from there. Obviously we have been running Huw for quite a while in the back three, full back the majority of the time.

“Glenn Bryce is probably one guy who has been playing well at 15 so we felt he deserved the nod and Huw would cover the back three off the bench and bring an impact.

“Obviously he has been away for quite a long time (with Scotland). We need to look at where we will pick Huw moving forward and where we will give him that opportunity but we know he is a 13 as well

“Nick (Grigg) has had some really good games as we know, he had some bad reads tonight but I’m sure we’ll put that right.”

It may be as simple that rugby has become so defence-dominated that a player like Jones has become a luxury, but the evidence in a few games this season has been that ignoring his attacking threat can come at a cost as well.