A workaholic surviving on four hours sleep a night who hammers his staff.. but Eddie has one simple message for his players: Power us to glory

EDDIE JONES will be wearing two bracelets at the Rugby World Cup final that he has picked up during the tournament.

One is black, from Oita, the other is white, from Miyazaki. They represent fighting spirit.

Jones has been a fighter since his days as an undersized hooker at Matraville High School in Sydney, a wrong-side-of-the tracks establishment which shook up Australian rugby.

Sometimes in his long coaching career he has picked the wrong fights, but the experience has allowed him to deliver a masterclass at this World Cup. At 59, it has all come together for England.

Three previous World Cups have taught him all there is to know about tournament rugby. The rhythm, the pace, when to push, when to hold back.

The Australian is a workaholic operating on three or four hours sleep, who hammers his support staff but has learned to balance the demands on players.

This week England have their biggest rugby match for 16 years. They have trained less for it than for any match in Jones’ time in charge (below). At this stage of a tournament, less is more. The

players trust him because he has been there and done it at World Cups – reaching a final with Australia, winning it as an assistant with South Africa and springing the biggest shock of all on the Springboks with Japan.

He is direct with players – sometimes painfully so – but the messages are simple. They appreciate clarity.

He came into the job four years ago with an idea of the type of rugby which would work best for England.

“I wanted to develop a power style as England have tough, big players,” said Jones. “It suited us and we will be tested on Saturday as we are playing the other most powerful team in the world.”

The bonus for the RFU when they hired him was his inside knowledge of Japan and that has proven invaluable.

Japan has made for a wonderful, warm host country, but it also has its challenges.

Having lived in the country, Jones was flagging up months in advance the potential difficulties of the humid conditions and the possibility of meteorological disruption at this time of year.

There have been two typhoons. The squad arrived in the backdraft of the first one and ‘Like the rest of the country I am inspired and excited by the way that you guys have played. In particular the semi-final last week, the intensity of the performance. I certainly don’t need to give people advice because you’re in control of it. Go and bring it home!’ found themselves marooned at Narita Airport for five hours. The players’ response? No flapping, just the first of countless games of tennis-ball cricket.

The second, more serious impact from Typhoon Hagibis led to the cancellation of England’s group game against France. Jones had the squad out of Tokyo and off to the beach resort of Miyazaki in a flash.

They showed up in Oita on the money for the quarter-final against Australia.

The semi-final against the All Blacks was Jones’ finest hour so far with England. The psychological approach of a dubious spying tale backed the world champions into a corner from which they never escaped.

Is there a finer hour yet to come? Today we find out. Four years distilled into 80 minutes.

‘No fear’ is the battle cry. With Jones in charge it should be ‘no worries’.