Eddie Jones says the Waratahs' humiliating loss to the Crusaders is a wake-up call for the Wallabies ahead of the Tri-Nations.

The Crusaders scored an amazing 14 tries in the 96-19 romp in Christchurch, and Jones says the performance of some leading New South Wales players has just added to concerns he has had over the form of several key Wallabies players recently.

"I think, what it's done is given us a realistic evaluation of where we are," Jones said. "I think everyone was so caught up with us doing so well in the Super 12, but it was always these games that were going to give us a proper indication of where we're up to.

"The Crusaders were very impressive, Otago were impressive against Queensland, so we've got plenty of work to do as a rugby nation."

Until the loss to the Crusaders, several Waratahs players had been rated strong contenders for places in the Australian team, but while only Matt Burke and David Lyons did their chances no harm, Jones says he will treat the game as an aberration.

"All the games over the last few weeks have been important and certainly one bad game doesn't rule out people. It's what they've done consistently over a period of time," Jones said.

Jones also revealed that he has been in contact with several Wallaby players in recent weeks, telling the likes of Brumbies Owen Finegan, George Smith, Justin Harrison and Jeremy Paul that they must lift their efforts in order to be chosen.

"I have spoken to a couple of the Brumbies and a few players from other provinces about what we feel they need to do to improve their selection chances," he said.

"We usually go through provincial coaches but felt with a couple of players to go directly to them, we felt like it might have a greater effect on them."

Jones words have perhaps been part of the reason the Brumbies have responded to a four-game losing streak to win their last two matches and qualify for the semi-finals, culminating with Friday's 46-25 victory over the Blues.

"The first 20 minutes of the second half was very impressive, I thought the Brumbies did all the basics well and played some super attacking football," said Jones, who coached the ACT to last year's Super 12 title.

While he concedes New South Wales was a shadow of the team that had won eight of its first ten games in the loss to the Crusaders, Jones says that after working hard enough to secure second place on the table, it's not yet out of the running for the title.

"The Waratahs finished the season with eight wins and three losses and they've finished the season as the second best team in the competition and whilst certainly psychologically they've got to get over their disappointment quickly, I don't think a win next week's impossible at all," Jones said.

And even though the Crusaders haven't yet been beaten this season, becoming the first team in the history of the Super 12 to go through a season unbeaten, Jones says they aren't unbeatable.

"They're a very good side and you've got to do all the small things right," Jones said.

"You look at Canterbury, they were excellent in their body position at the tackle, their speed to the breakdown was outstanding, their ball control at the tackle was good, their passing and alignment in the backs was good, and they're all things our sides are capable of.

"Things just didn't go right for the Waratahs. They didn't play as well as they can and conversely the Crusaders played probably as well as they can. It'd be hard for them to play better than that."