Boks must go all out to beat Aussies

Rugby fans worldwide know Wallabies coach Eddie Jones has more chirps than a crowded aviary … and that he’s a master of the art of the psychological sports campaign.

We shouldn’t be surprised, then, that he put in a few cleverly pitched barbs ahead of today’s first round Rugby Championship match between Australia and the Springboks at Loftus Versfeld.

“What I am hoping for is their best team. I do not want to take down a half-baked Springboks side,” Jones told reporters in Sydney.

Whether that was genuine, or whether Jones wanted to somehow leave the mind picture in the Bok camp that they are second-stringers, will probably only be decided on the pitch.

But it was clearly aimed at portraying the Aussies as the sort of team the Boks would have to go all out to beat.

At the same time, maybe Bok coach Jacques Nienaber and the selectors were playing a few head tricks themselves by choosing a line-up which includes just nine of the 23 players who were in the side which beat England in the World Cup final in 2019.

That message could be: We have such depth we don’t need our superstar players to make you lot look sheepish, Eddie…