Eddie takes inspiration from Rassie's World Cup heroics: 'In 2018, they were a bit of a mess'

Newly appointed Australia coach Eddie Jones has taken inspiration from the manner in which Rassie Erasmus turned the Springboks' fortunes around to win the 2019 Rugby World Cup.

Jones was appointed as the Wallabies' new mentor in January following his sacking as England coach.

He believes the Wallabies, currently seventh in the World Rugby rankings, can replicate what the Springboks did in 2019 by winning this year's World Cup in France.

The Boks were written off in 2018 but went on to win the World Cup under Erasmus the following year. They beat Jones' England 32-12 in the final in Yokohama.

"The only thing I'm thinking about is the next nine-and-a-half months, because in reality what I can control is to get the team ready, firstly, for the Rugby Championship and the Bledisloe Cup, and then to the World Cup," Jones told the Newstalk ZB website.

"If you look at the history of the World Cup, I think one of the interesting things is what South Africa did in the last World Cup. In 2018, they were a bit of a mess, winning it under 40 percent.

"There was great disgruntlement with the way they were playing and Rassie Erasmus comes in and basically goes back to traditional Springboks rugby and they win the World Cup.

"So, there's no reason why we can't do that. There's enough talented players here, no doubt about it, mate.

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Jones acknowledged that the Wallabies were "skinny in one or two positions" but believed they could beat any team.

"You look at Ireland, the best team in the world at the moment, but they lose Johnny Sexton and are they the best team in the world? And that's a completely centrally contracted country.

"We've got some depth problems, there's no doubt