Eddie Jones hopes the world champion Springboks field their strongest side against the Wallabies in the opening Rugby Championship clash in Pretoria next weekend, and Australia’s hopes of making history on the high veldt have been boosted by the inclusions of two stars.
The Wallabies flew out of Sydney on Friday morning for the first game in the Eddie 2.0 era, which coincidentally has the coach returning to the same venue as his first game as national coach in 2001 – Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria, an hour north of Johannesburg.
Australia have never won at the intimidating venue in seven visits, dating back to 1963. Jones’ first game as national coach, after taking over from Rod Macqueen, resulted in a 20-15 loss for the Wallabies, who were fatigued after just winning a series against the British and Irish Lions. The 61-22 defeat in 2007 was, at the time, a record loss for the Wallabies (it was overtaken by the 53-8 loss in 2008 in Johannesburg) and is still the most points conceded by Australia in a Test.
Jones said he had been pushing the vision of the 2023 Wallabies making history in Pretoria since April, and their chances are boosted by the potential for South Africa to field a second-string side.
Due to play in New Zealand a week later, the Boks are reportedly set to send players ahead of the Wallabies Test, and play different teams over the opening two rounds.
The Springboks are already without injured stars Siya Kolisi, Eben Etzebeth and Handre Pollard, too.
Breyton Paulse beats the tackle of George Smith in South Africa’s 20-15 win at Loftus Versfeld in 2001. It was Jones’ first game as Wallabies coach.Credit: AP
Asked what team he expected to face, Jones said: “I don’t know. But what I’m hoping for is their best team. Because I want to play against the best. If we want to beat South Africa in Pretoria, we want to play against the best.”
Jones confirmed four injured players would remain in Australia – Andrew Kellaway, Langi Gleeson, Jordan Petaia and Matt Philip – but Samu Kerevi and prop Angus Bell were on the plane, and are both a chance of playing. Kerevi is returning from a post-ACL hamstring niggle, suffered while on Barbarians duty, and Bell hasn’t played since the opening round of Super Rugby due to a foot injury.
Though only arriving from France this week, Will Skelton and Richie Arnold are both also in contention, Jones said.
“It’s just a great opportunity – imagine being in the first team that’s beaten South Africa in Pretoria,” Jones said. “Imagine being a part of that team. So, there’s a great opportunity there.
Eddie Jones revving up the Wallabies at training on the Gold Coast.Credit: Getty
“We’ve spoken about it since April. It’s an opportunity to create history here, and we want to be the first team that does it.”
Jones’ only win at Loftus Versfeld was in 2007, when he was in the home sheds as a consultant coach for the Springboks.
Quizzed about the keys to being successful in South Africa, Jones pointed to the dual virtues of belief and good field position.
“Firstly, you’ve got to think you can win,” he said.
Samu Kerevi passing at training, having overcome a hamstring injury.Credit: Getty
“The most important thing is to have the mindset to win. You’ve got to be thinking that and we’re 100 per cent committed to winning. And then you’ve got to execute a game plan where you can win enough possession, you can push them to the other end of the field and keep them under pressure.”
With a short runway to the World Cup, the Wallabies must perform strongly against the Boks to build confidence; internally and externally.
But Jones indicated his sights were set a few months down the track, too.
“We don’t need to get ahead of ourselves. There’s a sprint, we’ve got to get out of the gates quickly. But sometimes the sprint doesn’t win the marathon.”
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