'We've got to beat them': Eddie Jones' hard line message to Aussie Super teams

New Wallabies head coach Eddie Jones spent the Super round in Melbourne assessing all five Australian Super teams from the stands as they battled it out over three days of action.

In the first round of Super Rugby Pacific there was just one trans-Tasman fixture for Jones to get a gauge from, with the Queensland Reds receiving a belting at the hands of the Hurricanes in Townsville.

At AAMI Stadium in round two the ledger was shared 1-all as the Rebels faced off against the Hurricanes and the Brumbies played the Blues.

The Brumbies held off the Blues for a 25-20 win and the Rebels produced a well fought comeback to push the Hurricanes but went down 39-33.

But Jones had a stern message for the Australian sides saying that it is ‘not good enough’ to have a close loss.

“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 would have been buoyed watching the Brumbies dominate the Blues at set-piece time, even when the All Black props were brought on.

The Brumbies pack was too much for the Blues to handle, scoring from two rolling mauls in addition to having scrum dominance.

The breakdown was another area that the Brumbies took control of, particularly late in the game where they were able to win turnovers.

Jones has made no secret of his desire to go after the All Blacks, publicly stating he is coming for them last month.

He views beating New Zealand as a barometer for how far his group of Wallabies can go at this year’s World Cup.

“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.”

The next trans-Tasman clash will be in round four when the in-form Waratahs take on the Hurricanes while the Rebels will face the Chiefs.