Making no excuses for the Wallabies' disastrous performance against South Africa, coach Eddie Jones has chided a local reporter following their Rugby Championship opener in Pretoria.
The Wallabies were outclassed in every facet at Loftus Versfeld and were lucky to only fall to a 43-12 defeat, which was their heaviest against the Springboks since 2008.
The match highlighted the work Jones has ahead before this year's Rugby World Cup in France, where South Africa will defend their title.
The home side were without a number of their stars, with the Springboks sending a dozen players ahead to New Zealand to start preparation for next weekend's clash with the All Blacks.
After the match, Jones took umbrage at a South African journalist's question.
“Eddie, you expressed your disappointment in the week that you weren’t playing the first-choice Springboks side. Is that a bit of relief now?," the reporter asked, prompting a lashing from the veteran coach.
“South Africans are good at winning. You don’t have to be a smart-arse mate,” Jones said.
“We were well and truly beaten today by a Springboks side that old mate is calling the B-team, right? I never knew there was a Springboks side that was called the B-team.”
Jones confronted the journalist after the press conference, demanding more respect.
“You don’t have to be a smart-arse mate,” Jones said again.
“You should have more respect mate. I never said that mate. I said we always want to play the best. Show some respect.”
The Wallabies led early with star winger Marika Koroibete scoring but from that point were out-muscled by the physical Springboks.
Making more than double the amount of tackles, they were always on the back foot with the forwards unable to lay any kind of platform for five-eighth Quade Cooper to orchestrate the attack.
They resorted to repeatedly kicking away possession which kept them under the pump in defence and a 17-5 half-time scoreline blew out with the Wallabies also giving up two penalty tries.
“We were outplayed everywhere,” Jones said.
“The only positive was the first 20 minutes, where we tried to play with a bit of pace, we tried to shift turnover ball and we looked dangerous but we weren’t able to sustain that effort.
“We got beaten at the set-piece, got beaten at the gain-line, got beaten in the air.
"When you do not win any of those contests, it is going to be a long day at the office. "
The Australians only have a few days to turn around the loss, hosting Argentina on Saturday night in Sydney.
The Pumas, coached by ex-Wallabies coach Michael Cheika, fell 41-12 to New Zealand in Mendoza to open their Rugby Championship campaign.
Jones said the Wallabies needed more consistency in their set piece and to find ways to get over the gain line.
“If we fix those issues we will be back in the money against Argentina,” Jones said.
Debutant Carter Gordon, who replaced fve-eighth Cooper after 68 minutes and scored a late try, looks a chance for a start against the Pumas.
“I thought Marika (Koroibete) was outstanding and Carter, coming on for his first Test in a difficult situation, showed he has a bright future,” Jones said.
