Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend believes the telepathy between Huw Jones and Sione Tuipulotu will benefit the British and Irish Lions against Australia.

Jones and Tuipulotu, along with Fin Russell, form a Scottish spine through the side, marking the first time the Lions have ever named a fly-half and centre trio from the nation.

In fact, the Lions will start a Test match with a 10/12/13 axis comprised of three players from the same nation for the first time since the opening Test of the 1993 tour of New Zealand, when England trio Rob Andrew, Jerry Guscott and Will Carling started against the All Blacks.

Jones and Tuipulotu first played together in December 2022 for Glasgow Warriors, while their first match as an international partnership came just two months later.

In both matches, Jones scored and the team won, while their first link-up for the Lions saw him score twice and register a win.

Jones is the joint second try-scorer with three, third for line breaks and fourth for metres gained, and Townsend has been impressed with his recent development.

"He had a nine out of 10 attack, and he needed to get his defence up to seven or eight out of 10, and he's done that," Townsend said.

"He's gone beyond it. We see his defence at the same level as his attack now. He's become a complete player."

TEST STARTERS @GlasgowWarriors' Huw Jones and Sione Tuipulotu start in the centres on Saturday

Last time there was a club pairing in the centres for a Lions Test? @Cardiff_Rugby in 1950 #Lions2025 pic.twitter.com/RzgrCPOAQM

— British & Irish Lions (@lionsofficial) July 17, 2025

On his partnership with Tuipulotu, Townsend added: "The personalities of the two of them [dubbed Huwipulotu] are a really good mix - the creativity of Sione and the running lines of Huw, that's the reason they've gelled.

"They're both really good rugby players, so if it was an unstructured situation, they just know how to get that ball into space and work off each other.

"The other way they've combined really well is in defence. They're just aware of what the person inside or outside them is going to do."