Australia head coach Eddie Jones says having a with a winning mentality will play a key role in helping his new-look Australian side feat the Springboks in the Rugby Championship.

Since Dave Rennie’s dismissal in January, the former England coach has been putting the players through their paces, whittling them down to a squad he hopes can cause damage at the World Cup in September and October in France.

A key objective has been to instill a desire to win, which will be tested for the first time in the Rugby Championship on July 8 at Loftus Versfeld Stadium, a venue where Australia has never tasted victory in seven games dating back to 1963.

“Yeah, 100 percent,” he said on whether he was aware of the Pretoria drought. “We’ve spoken about it since April, it’s an opportunity to create history here and we want to be the first team that does it.

“First you have to think you can win. The most important thing is that’s the mindset you’ve got to be in,” added Jones, who is in his second stint as Wallabies coach.

“You’ve got to be thinking that and we’re 100 percent committed to winning and then you’ve got to execute a game plan where you win enough possession that you can push them to the other end of the field and keep them under pressure.”

Asked if that would involve a kicking strategy, Jones replied: “Any way you can mate, just get up the other end of the field, whether you run and pass or kick, it doesn’t matter, as long as you get up there.”

Jones chose a 34-man squad for the Rugby Championship, in which Australia will also face Argentina and play two Bledisloe Cup games against the All Blacks before the World Cup.

He left four injured players, Andrew Kellaway, Jordan Petaia, Matt Philip, and Langi Gleeson, at home as they departed on Friday: Andrew Kellaway, Jordan Petaia, Matt Philip, and Langi Gleeson.

While Jones exuded confidence, he also stressed it was “a new team, new coaching staff, new players, new captains”, with Michael Hooper and James Slipper sharing the armband, and the ultimate goal was winning the World Cup.

“We don’t need to get ahead of ourselves,” he said. “There’s a sprint, we want to get out of the gates quickly, but sometimes the sprint doesn’t win the marathon.

“We’re not focused on South Africa, we’re focused on ourselves. This is a game about us, we want to put a new standard of Wallaby rugby forward and set the tone for our campaign.”

Veteran scrum-half Nic White said that Jones had also made discipline a top priority by bringing referees to every practise and being a tough taskmaster.

“He doesn’t let anyone, on the field or off the field, just float by, he’s on you,” White said.

“If you’re cruising through a moment, he’ll pick it up pretty quickly.

“Everything is about a winning mindset, and it’s infectious. We’re in a good place at the moment.”

Photo by EPA/DAVE HUNT