Loftus: The great Pretoria graveyard for Wallabies

So great is the desire of Australia to end a 60-year losing streak against South Africa at Loftus in Pretoria, head coach Eddie Jones has been discussing it since April.

The Wallabies have played seven Tests at the 52 000-capacity ground in a leafy eastern suburb of the South African administrative capital, and lost every time.

One of the defeats was humiliating - 61-22 in 1997 - while the closest they came to success was in 2001 when they fell 20-15.

A throwback to when the Springboks thumped Australia 61-22 in the final game of the 1997 Tri Nations.pic.twitter.com/lvJMxQ4JBQ

The five-point loss 22 years ago marked the debut of Jones in his first stint as head coach of a team that has won the Rugby World Cup twice.

Now, the 63-year-old Tasmanian is hoping to begin a second spell in charge by creating history through a victory at Loftus in the opening round of the 2023 Rugby Championship.

"We have spoken about it [winning at Loftus] since April. It is an opportunity to create history. We want to be the first team that does it," Jones said.

1963: South Africa 14 Australia 3 (Bok coach: Hennie Muller)

1997: South Africa 61 Australia 22 (Bok coach: Carel du Plessis)

2001: South Africa 20 Australia 15 (Bok coach: Harry Viljoen)

2005: South Africa 22 Australia 16 (Bok coach: Jake White)

2010: South Africa 44 Australia 31 (Bok coach: Peter de Villiers)

2012: South Africa 31 Australia 8 (Bok coach: Heyneke Meyer)

2016: South Africa 18 Australia 10 (Bok coach: Allister Coetzee)

Simon Poidevin, a 1991 World Cup winner, has played at Loftus and outlined to the Sydney Morning Herald what it is like being an Australian surrounded by 50 000 partisan Springbok supporters.

"In the cauldron of Loftus Versfeld you just have to remain calm and super