Clive's the top man, admits Wallaby chief

Wallabies boss Eddie Jones tonight paid tribute to the “exceptional” coaching ability of his World Cup final rival Clive Woodward.

Jones and England chief Woodward will send their teams into battle at Telstra Stadium this weekend, with rugby union’s ultimate prize on the table.

And while the popular theory is of a love-hate relationship between the two coaches, Jones has no doubt that Woodward deserves huge acclaim.

The Six Nations champions have won 21 of their last 22 Tests, spent a lengthy spell as planet rugby’s officially-ranked top team, and will go into Saturday’s clash after beating Australia four times in succession.

“I think he is an exceptional coach. I think if you look since 1999, who has run the best programme in the world? Undoubtedly, Clive,” said Jones, speaking at the Wallabies’ Coffs Harbour training camp.

“They are well-conditioned, well-skilled and tactically astute. England are a model side, and everyone aspires to run a programme like him. He has done extremely well.

“England are a very impressive side, You have just got to look at the statistics of world rugby over the last four years. I think they have lost five games in the last four years.

“They have been the number one-ranked side, and they put France away pretty easily in the semi-finals,” he added.

“They played the conditions superbly, got field position, and with Jonny Wilkinson kicking goals and field goals, they played a very smart and pretty influential brand of rugby.”

Australia will capture their third world title if the holders and host nation burst England’s bubble.

Recent form though, suggests England have the upper hand. Their last defeat against Australia came in the 1999 Sydney Centenary Test.

“One of the attractions of an Australia versus England final is that rivalry between us – it’s a great sporting rivalry,” Jones claimed.

“We enjoy playing against England, and we want to prove ourselves to be the best side in the world. They are currently the best side in the world, so we have 80 minutes on Saturday to have an opportunity to try to change that.

“They (England) are still the best side in the world by far. We will have to improve to be competitive with them.

“If you look at England’s form this year, the best 40 minutes we have played against was their first 40 minutes at the Telstra Dome in June. They were in absolute impeccable form that night.

“They played with width, they played with precision and their set--piece was good. We know what they are capable of, and we haven’t achieved it yet,” added Jones, reflecting on the 25-14 Melbourne defeat, which represented England’s first Test victory against Australia Down Under.

The Wallabies’ World Cup starting XV, to be announced by Jones on Wednesday, is set to include several changes from that Telstra Dome loss.

But one message will remain the same – don’t give England’s goalkicking machine Wilkinson opportunities to strike gold.

“You can’t afford to give a penalty 55 metres away from your goal-line, because Wilkinson is capable of drilling them,” Jones said.

Five Australian players missed training today – prop Bill Young, locks Justin Harrison and Nathan Sharpe, plus influential flankers George Smith and Phil Waugh.

“They all sat out training because they were a bit sore,” added Jones.

“They will train tomorrow, and should be right for selection.”

The only definite non-starter is prop Ben Darwin, who was carried off during Australia’s 22-10 semi-final success against New Zealand two days ago.