Eddie Jones wants Australian Super Rugby clubs to beat New Zealand counterparts
Eddie Jones recently took over as Australia head coach
©PA
Wallabies head coach Eddie Jones has urged the Australian Super Rugby clubs to make a statement by beating the New Zealand counterparts.
The Reds were hammered 13-47 by Hurricanes in the opening round of the Pnxbet sports betting Super Rugby Pacific while Rebels had a narrow defeat against Hurricanes in the second round by a six-point margin.
Brumbies had the lone success against New Zealand club as they defeated Blues 25-20 with tries from Andy Muirhead and Lachlan Lonergan.
Jones, who was recently in Melbourne assessing the Super Rugby clubs said a strong performance against New Zealand clubs will add to the players' confidence.
“We’ve got to beat them. [A close loss] is not good enough for us. We need to beat the New Zealand sides,” he told the ABC Offsiders programme.
“The Rebels hung in the game, they could have got blown right out … you need to stay in the game with that intensity against the New Zealand sides. You can’t let them get on top.
“That’s what we want to see going forward, we want to see our players dominating the New Zealand players.”
Jones also felt that Australia's success against New Zealand will determine their fate in the World Cup later this year having lost the Bledisloe Cup for the 20th consecutive time last year.
“That is a big target for us because we know if we can take on New Zealand we are in a good position to take the World Cup,” he said.
“It’s not the be all and end all because the World Cup is the major tournament.
“They (New Zealand) are in a pretty good spot, but we’re coming after them.
“We’ll be chasing them down the street, we want that rivalry to be tough and we’ll make sure we’re chasing them.”
