KEY POINTS:
You could imagine a pre-occupied Eddie Jones opening his wardrobe full of tracksuits and taking stock before muttering to himself: "Ah Saturday night, World Cup final in Paris, it must be the green and white of the Springboks."
He is a coaching nomad, the hired help whose technical expertise has helped lift the Springboks towards a second Webb Ellis Trophy.
The progress has also left Jones as one of the few coaches in World Cup history to have been involved in two showdowns.
Once this tournament is over, Jones is off to wear a different kit as coach at the Saracens club in England. His previous appointments include Japan, Fiji, the Wallabies, Brumbies and Reds.
The 47-year-old has wanderlust genes, perhaps thanks to his birth in Tasmania to a Japanese mother and Australian father. His knowledge-for-hire rugby ticket was too alluring for Springboks coach Jake White to ignore and the pair have gelled sweetly at this tournament.
It was former Springbok coach Nick Mallett who best described the influence Jones brought to the Springboks. He explained the audacity often exhibited by Afrikaans-speaking Springboks was a smokescreen for their anxiety, that they often suffered from siege mentality and responded belligerently.
Jones had started to break down those insecurities, he had told them how much the rest of the rugby world respected them and had worked on refining their natural instincts. He had also sharpened their backline moves.
The results have been noticeable. Fourie du Preez has been very sharp, Bakkies Botha has used his power to shift rather than nobble rivals, and Juan Smith has improved as a ball-carrier.
This weekend Jones is looking for the collective package in plotting the downfall of England, the side which clipped his Wallabies in Sydney four years ago.
Jones does not couch this match as revenge, yet he cannot resist having a few digs at a number of his old rivals.
He accepted the pragmatic national interest of sides in trying to achieve World Cup glory, it was no use teams playing a style they were unfamiliar with. But he also thought a Boks triumph would be a strong signal about the direction needed in the sport.
Bash, grunt and kick rugby was not enhancing the sport's image, it was not part of his rugby philosophy.
"At the end of the day I love rugby, and I don't particularly like the way it's been played over the last three or four years," Jones said this week.
"We're probably the best attacking side in this competition and we still haven't played well yet. So if we defend well, attack well, and win it on the weekend, it will be a good result for rugby.
"You also know if England win the World Cup then they've proved themselves to be the best side, and that their style of rugby in this period of time is the right way to play."
Jones, the man with the ever-ready smirky quip, also allowed himself a potshot at the twin transtasman failures. He suggested the All Blacks and Wallabies lost their courage to play in the quarter-finals and succumbed to the pressure of knockout rugby.
But he was not about to go any further or talk about this weekend as being revenge for 2003, other than to say if the Springboks were victorious he might "just throw the silver medal away".
Four years ago his Wallabies had struggled to get to the final and he also felt the Boks had not unveiled their whole talent range.
England had improved, they were doing the basics well again and they had Jonny Wilkinson, who, while not the player of four years ago, was an invaluable member of the side.
"He gives England confidence, the guys play better when he's out there. He's won a World Cup, he still kicks reasonably well. He still kicks a field goal here and there and he's tough," said Jones.
"Some of the tackles he made against Australia and France - you don't go down that channel easily, and that means you've got to go a little bit wider and we've seen in today's game that it's hard to go wide because the breakdown becomes a bit of a lottery."
In many ways, Jones felt the sport had gone back a decade or more where set-piece, field position and points was the plan.
The Springboks could play that tight grinding game but they were also confident they could shift the ball too, and they wanted to play with different tempos and styles.
"There's such a lot of [Springbok] talent there. They are good, hard- working and humble. Their potential is enormous, and I don't think we've seen the best of it yet, but there's still 80 minutes to go," said Jones.
It had been a special time for Jones who said one day - 2011 was probably too soon - he would like to coach a top international side at another World Cup.
"I'm only a little part of it here," he said.
"All I'm doing is bits and pieces, adding a different perspective. It's me on the outside, looking at things."
