Eddie Jones adamant Wallabies can win World Cup despite two horror showings

The Wallabies were smashed by South Africa then lost to Argentina but bold optimism remains a hallmark of coach Eddie Jones.

Wallabies Coach Eddie Jones in Brisbane Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

Two losses to start his highly-anticipated second coaching stint with the Wallabies, including a loss to Argentina in Sydney, have not deterred Eddie Jones’ belief his team can win the World Cup.

After the back-to-back losses, including up smashing by South Africa in Pretoria, Jones and the Wallabies now face the daunting task of taking on the All Blacks at the MCG next Saturday.

That’s the first of two clashes with the Kiwis which are the final two tests, with a World Cup warm-up against France to follow before the opening clash of the tournament against minnows Georgia in September.

The Wallabies have won just two of the past 13 clashes with the All Blacks over the past five years and could hit the World Cup without a win under Jones.

But the ever-optimistic coach said that his own past experiences meant that should not preclude the Wallabies from holding out hope of winning the World Cup.

“These are important games, very important games, we’ve got the Bledisloe Cup, we haven’t won it in 22 years, but what you do at the World Cup as to what you do before the World Cup is two completely different things,” Jones said on Wednesday in Brisbane.

“I was involved with South Africa in 2007, we won one of our Tri Nations games. Japan in 2015, we won one of five warm-up games.

Eddie Jones and his Wallabies . (Photo by Saeed KHAN / AFP) /

“It’s how you use the games, you’ve got to be strategic about using the games to get yourself right, particularly coming in as a new coach at the moment, every game is a learning experience for me.

“And certainly we’d like to have much better results, we’d like to have two wins, but that’s not the case and it doesn’t mean we’re not learning for the World Cup.”

Jones even declared the prospect of taking on the All Blacks twice, and trying to win the Bledisloe Cup for the first time since 2002, that’s over 20 years, was something to look forward to.

“I quite fancy ourselves against New Zealand, they haven’t been put under any pressure yet and I think we’ve got the ability to put them under some pressure,” Jones said.

“I like coaching against New Zealand, it’s like the highlight of the year.”

While the Wallabies went down to the Springboks and Argentina, the All Blacks too care of both in their opening two matches of the Rugby Championship, painting an even more dire picture of the task facing Jones and his team.