Eddie Jones will be undaunted by spectre of Loftus

Eddie Jones stared down the most daunting debut for any international coach in 2001.

His opening weeks as Wallabies coach were a true baptism of fire.

On Saturday, in Australia's Rugby Championship opener against the Springboks, he returns to the venue where he made his international debut in front of a Loftus Versfeld crowd baying for blood.

The Boks in 2001 had an underwhelming start to their international season with a drawn series against France and a win over Italy in the incoming series. When New Zealand beat down their challenge in a dreary 12-3 victory for the visitors at Newlands, Bok fans weren't only frustrated by results but how blunt their team had become in attack.

Nothing short of a win would do but in the Wallabies they faced worthy adversaries. The visitors, who travelled here on the back of an inspiring series win over the British & Irish Lions, must have fancied their chances in the capital.

Bok coach Harry Viljoen had preached much innovation when he took the reins the previous year, but he became increasingly frustrated and had to revert to the team's tried and trusted method of battering the opposition. So it proved at Loftus as the Boks beat the Wallabies 20-15 in a largely uninspiring physical and highly confrontational clash to get the Tri-Nations campaign back on track. It was a triumph for stoicism over style.

If that result gave Viljoen more breathing space, it served as reminder for Jones that his new team can operate in any hostile environment.

The resourceful coach took his team to another citadel two weeks later when the world champions confronted the All Blacks at Carisbrook in Dunedin. The Wallabies prevailed 23-15 to secure their first win at that ground and set them up for Tri-Nations success at Jones' first attempt.

The task facing Jones now is perhaps more challenging. In 2001 he inherited a Wallabies who had a 79% win record under Rod Macqueen, and the task facing him now is to populate the wins column more frequently and build momentum to the Rugby World Cup in September.

Having taken over in January, time is against Jones but as utility back Reece Hodge pointed out, the Wallabies cannot discard what they took on board the past three years.

“With a new coach coming in a bit has changed but some guys still got the experiences of the past three years. There has been a lot of positive lessons to come from the past three years so we can't just discard them as a group. This is where we are,” Hodge said.

He said his teammates put up their hand in Super Rugby this year, as did the overseas based players.

“There are some new guys in the group, players and coaches, but there is a core group who have been around for a while.

“We are hoping to build on that, get some new ideas and go to the next level as a team,” he said.

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