Winning all that matters to Woodward

Clive Woodward has admitted that he does not care how England win the World Cup - as long as they lift the trophy at Telstra Stadium on Saturday.

Holders and host nation Australia stand between Woodward's men and the greatest British sporting triumph since England were crowned world football champions 37 years ago.

It is a dream final that many find too close to call, yet England's record of 22 wins from their last 23 Tests - including home and away victories over Australia - makes them marginal favourites.

The Six Nations champions have developed a remarkable winning habit. Their only defeat during the past 20 months came when they fielded a second team against France in Marseille.

With experience oozing from Woodward's line-up, England will never have a better chance of ruling planet rugby.

And if they topple the Wallabies for the fifth successive time, a sequence stretching back to the 1999 Centenary Test in Sydney, then one of Britain's elite fighting forces can take considerable credit.

During Woodward's six-year coaching reign, England have spent time training and working with the Royal Marines at their Lympstone base in Devon, which has proved an invaluable experience.

"You go into the game with a definitive plan, how you think that the game is going to unfold, and how you think that the opposition is going to play based on your strengths and weaknesses and based on the opposition's strengths and weaknesses," said Woodward.

"But I remember a few years ago, we were training with the Royal Marines, and I was speaking with a senior officer.

"In the Marines, they use the analogy that they are the best, and they are probably the best-trained people in the world. Their preparation is without parallel, and that is why they are the best.

"Their mindset is that when they jump out of the helicopter, they believe that they know what is going to happen.

"But the secret of success is that if it doesn't happen that way, they have just got to be able to adjust immediately, and that is what I like to think that England do.

"We have really worked on that, and when the guys run out tomorrow and we cross that line, we like to feel that we know how the game is going to unfold, but if it doesn't, then we have to change things through the 80 minutes," he added.

"As I keep saying, and to some degree I am sick of saying it, it is about winning. I think that one of the key strengths of the England team is their experience.

"We have got six players in the starting XV who have all captained England, and we are constantly passing messages back and forth. If we need to change things, however dramatically, there is no point in discussing things afterwards.