Rugby World Cup: From Eddie O'Sullivan to Eddie Jones, any coach will tell you the most difficult part of their job is to leave out players from their starting team or, even more harrowingly, from a squad of 22.

One can only imagine the degree of difficulty when it comes to a World Cup final.

Clive Woodward has presented a typically business-like approach to the job, and both last week and this has praised the commitment and support of the unlucky eight who have had no match-day involvement in either their semi-final or final.

Having named Al Baxter instead of the injured Ben Darwin, and also recalling the fit-again Matt Giteau to the bench, Jones's task might even have been more awkward. Some mighty fine players have long since been cast adrift.

Wallaby legends such as Matt Burke, Chris Latham (neither of whom have disguised their disappointment in recent weeks) and Nathan Grey have almost 150 caps between them, and have been consigned to a seat in the stands.

"The positive thing about Australian rugby this year is that there has been such contention about selection, which means we've got a number of good players who are missing out on the team," said Jones.

"If you look at the guys who aren't in the 22, they're all excellent players who have considerable futures in Australian rugby. To leave them out of the 22 is pretty healthy."

One ventures the veterans, Burke, Grey and Latham, might disagree about the future bit, and in particular one wonders if the latter is now ruing his U-turn on his proposed move to Munster even more now. In any event, Jones conceded this selection had been more difficult than most.

"There are seven blokes (Ben Darwin is injured) who've absolutely done everything they can to be as good as they can and they're not in the team. After every game, it's always the squad of 30 who has put together that performance.

"We've all trained hard, there's been a lot of 15 on 15 games in training. The quality of training has been very high and a lot of credit must go to the guys who are not in the side."

By hook or by crook the Wallabies have survived in the scrums up until now, but Jones denied they've had to concentrate more on that aspect of their game in light of Darwin's injury and England's excellence in that area after subduing and then conquering the French scrum.

"Our scrum work throughout the tournament has been consistent. The scrum, the lineout, the maul are all important parts for us to do well in in the game. We have to achieve parity in all of those areas."

There's a school of thought that if it rains on Saturday again the Wallabies may as well have stayed in Coffs Harbour (from where they relocate to Sydney today), though publicly, Jones did his best to put a positive spin on this eventuality.

"Sydney in spring - it's either hot, it's either windy or it's wet. We have to prepare for those three scenarios. If it's wet, it will suit the side with more skill. You still have to catch and pass the ball and kick the ball. So the side with the most skill will win the match, and we think that'll be us."

That said, Jones spoke of where he perceives the primary English threat to be.

"They've changed their game considerably during the tournament. They've certainly shortened their game and are playing at a much closer channel than they have been. When playing us, I'm sure there's only one thing they are looking at, and that's to dominate us in the forwards."

Not that he was calling them boring. "They are just playing to their strengths. The semi-final was an unusual game because of the rain. They still have the ability to play with greater width but certainly they're playing a much shorter, narrower game in this World Cup than they've been playing previously.

"England have been heavily criticised but whether they play poorly or play well, they still win. Sides struggle to beat them because they control their first-phase possession so well and convert that to points. They are such good accumulators of points."

Disappointingly almost, Jones and Woodward have pursed their lips and avoided stoking up the enmity which has festered between the two men for the last couple of years, but Jones did utilise talk of the Wallabies' comparative youth to stir up some pre-match propaganda, with referee Andre Watson presumably his primary target.

"What is crucial is fitness. Fitness is definitely the key if the game is fast and the referee is to follow the edict of the tournament, which is to have fast ball and get the tackler off the ball carrier.

"Guys win Olympics at 36 years of age, you can still perform well in your mid-30s. It's not so much age, but fitness and we'll certainly back ourselves on fitness."

AUSTRALIA: M Rogers; W Sailor, S Mortlock, E Flatley, L Tuqiri; S Larkham, G Gregan (capt); B Young, B Cannon, A Baxter, J Harrison, N Sharpe, G Smith, D Lyons, P Waugh. Replacements: J Paul, M Dunning, D Giffin, M Cockbain, C Whitaker, M Giteau, J Roff.