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Eddie Jones fires first shot at All Blacks after rejoining Wallabies

The new Aussie coach has backed the Wallabies to make waves at this year's World Cup.

New Wallabies coach Eddie Jones (pictured right) during a press conference and (pictured left) Quade Cooper warming--up.
New Wallabies coach Eddie Jones (pictured right) has praised the depth of talent in Australia and has warned New Zealand ahead of the Bledisloe Cup. (Getty Images)

Eddie Jones has used his first press conference as new Wallabies coach to warn New Zealand the Australians are coming after them and are poised to win back the Bledisloe Cup for the first time in 21 years. An upbeat Jones has put a huge price on regaining trans-Tasman supremacy and pride, believing a Bledisloe Cup victory would be the perfect springboard into a strong World Cup campaign later in the year.

Australia hosts the All Blacks at the MCG on July 29 before the return bout in Dunedin on August 5, needing to win in Melbourne and avoid defeat in New Zealand if it's to claim the trophy for the first time since 2002. "I think they (the All Blacks) are in a pretty good spot but we're coming after them," Jones declared.

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"We're going to be chasing them down the street. That's a big target for us because we know, as Australians, if we can take New Zealand we're in a good position to take the World Cup, so we'll certainly be prioritising that.

"We've got a home game against them in Melbourne where we hope to have a sell-out crowd, which will be a great occasion, and we know that the Melbourne Cricket Ground is a ground where Australia traditionally play well.

"They (New Zealand) always have good talent coming through and have a good coach in Ian Foster (but) if we can get the lead in the series and go to Dunedin…what a fabulous place to win back the Bledisloe Cup. "That's the picture in my head."

Eddie Jones praises Australia's rugby talent

Jones has only been back in Australia for a number of days in his second coming as Wallabies coach, but is already talking up the depth of playing talent at his disposal. He even went as far as to suggest he could field the strongest backline in world rugby.

Jones said: "What I do know is that our players don't lack talent. If you if you did a world XV today on talent, you'd have a fair few Australian players in there."

The Wallabies singing the national anthem before the Bledisloe Cup.
Eddie Jones has warned the All Blacks that the Wallabies are coming for the Bledisloe Cup. (Getty Images)(Photo by Fiona Goodall/Getty Images) (Fiona Goodall via Getty Images)

"You've just got to look potentially at the backline Australia could have and you're thinking 'is there a better backline in the world?'.

"That doesn’t win you Test matches – what wins you Test matches is whether you're going to run hard to do that inside clean, whether you're going back over your head to chase that kick – so I need to find the right balance (of players). You’ve got to find the right level of coaching for these players so they want to give more."

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