Speaking about the signing Sean Lineen said: “I’m excited by this find. Jon could well prove to be a real gem. He’s working very hard in the gym right now but it just proves that there are players in the club game that can come through to the professional level.”
An electrician by trade, Jon represented Scotland in the club international matches against Ireland and Wales in 2008.
He made his Glasgow debut in the Magners League match with Ospreys in May 2009
Jon was a talented boxer and had to make a choice between the rugby pitch and the boxing ring. "When I was 13 I was second in the Scottish championships and the next year I won it," he says. "I won the Scottish title aged 14 when I was at the Bad Apple Gym in Kinning Park, but I boxed at a lot of gyms – at the ABC Gym in the Gorbals, in Woodvale Street in Govan, all over Glasgow.
"I started boxing when I was eight years old and stopped (at 14] when my boxing coach told me I had to choose between rugby and boxing. In boxing you've got to be as light and as nimble as you can be, on the other hand a good prop forward has got to be a big bruiser, and the two don't go hand in hand.
"But that experience has been vital because boxing stands you in good stead for life: the discipline it gave me has helped me in every area of my life, and it's come in handy on the rugby pitch when you need to get aggressive. There were always lots of scuffles and tussles, and there were times when I had to think and act fast. When I was at Whitecraigs (where he started playing aged 12] you always knew you were guaranteed a bit of scuffle with clubs like Ardrossan and Dalziel. Happy times."