Jones says struggling Wallabies can ‘shock’ All Blacks

Saturday, 29 July 2023 00:14 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

MELBOURNE, AFP: Eddie Jones has tipped the struggling Wallabies to “shock” fans and upset the All Blacks on Saturday, but co-skipper James Slipper admits the odds are stacked against them.

New Zealand, ranked the world’s number three side, head into the game in front of an expected 80,000 fans at the Melbourne Cricket Ground after impressive victories over world champions South Africa and Argentina.

Two trophies are on the line, with a win ensuring Ian Foster’s men retain the southern hemisphere Rugby Championship title and also the trans-Tasman Bledisloe Cup.

Australia haven’t got their hands on the Bledisloe silverware since 2002—when Jones was last in charge – and few expect that to change.

The Wallabies would need not only victory in Melbourne but also at Dunedin next month to claim the spoils.

And they would need a significant change in form. Australia are still chasing their first victory of the 2023 Rugby Championship, after defeats against the Springboks and Pumas.

Jones has made seven changes after being embarrassed at home 34-31 by Argentina and is gambling on a young and relatively inexperienced starting side to handle the pressure at a stadium neither team has experienced before.

Notably, rookie Carter Gordon has been thrown in at the deep end as playmaker alongside scrum-half Tate McDermott with Quade Cooper and Nic White on the bench.

With a few months to go before the September-October World Cup in France, Jones acknowledged his team had been widely written off, but insisted they were a work in progress.

“I’m still getting to know the players and the players are still getting to know me. We needed to find out where the best balance of the team is but just watching the team train I liked the look of it,” he said.

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