Jones taunts England: 'You're not a patch on the 2003 team'

Jones, who is acting as technical adviser to South Africa during the tournament, lit the fuse for a fiery final at the Stade de France on Saturday by insisting that this Red Rose side are not a patch on Sir Clive Woodward's 2003 vintage.

He even argued that Jonny Wilkinson is nothing like the dominant force he was when he shot down the Wallabies with a last-minute drop goal in Sydney.

Jones is due to join Woodward at a lunch in London today before returning to Paris to assist in the Springboks' preparations for their first final since 1995.

His old adversary will doubtless feel moved to respond to the traditional verbal baiting aimed at England, including the accusation that they possess a Plan A and nothing else.

Jones said: 'In 2003, England were a more comprehensive team who could play in a number of ways, then go back to a field position, kicking game.

'They are a different team now. They have been playing this way for only four or five games and I would be surprised if they can play any other way.

'When you've only had a team together for a short period of time, you have to settle on a style that gets you the win and that's what they've done. But I don't think they will be able to change that.

'I remember playing England in June of 2003, and the way they shifted the ball just killed us. It was only 23-15 but we couldn't compete, to be honest. The only thing that kept us in there was ticker (heart).

'I was thinking: "We cannot beat this side" but then we looked at it, worked out what we had to do and got very close to beating them. But they were probably just coming off their peak by then. Those Tests (in the summer) were their best Tests and it was some of the best rugby we have seen in the last 10 years.'

On the subject of Wilkinson, Jones seemed torn between residual admiration and the belief that England's iconic No 10 was no longer t h e f o r c e o f o l d , p a r t l y because of all the injuries he has endured and partly because of changing personnel around him.

'Jonny Wilkinson's still there,' he said. 'He's a bit of a worry, but he's a different sort of player from 2003.

Defensively he's still good, but he's probably not as dominant as he was in 2003.

'He has been out of the game. In 2003 he had a very good combination with Will Greenwood, who was the eyes and ears of the team. Jonny doesn't have that now, although Mike Catt is doing a pretty good job for him.'

Jones has been astounded by the heroics of English veterans like Catt and Mark Regan, who have added nous and passion and composure to Ashton's side. But he could not resist a little dig at their expense, wondering aloud if two men in their mid-30s would be able to handle yet another tumultuous Test match after coming through so many battles in recent weeks.

The former Wallaby coach — who lost his job on the back of eight successive defeats two years ago — had another laugh at England's expense on the subject of attacking intent. When told that Ashton thought his players had played 'too much rugby' against France, Jones could not contain his amusement.

'He must have a funny video machine!' he said. 'I didn't see it. He said they were playing too much rugby? I must have been in the bar at that point.

'But England have found a lot more balance than they had earlier in the tournament.

'In the lead-up games to the World Cup they very rarely passed the ball, but now when they get goforward ball they are trying to use it a little bit.'

There was another indication yesterday that the word 'revenge' has obviously become too emotive for the ultra-professional world of modern sport. Jones could be forgiven for wanting to settle an old score after having glory snatched away from him four years ago, but he claimed that the thought did not occur to him.

What did occur to him was that South Africa have it in them to become world champions for the second time.

'You move on,' he said. 'In coaching, you have good and bad years and you just don't want too many bad years. Australia played as well as we could in 2003 and England were the better side.

'This time South Africa are potentially the best team, so if we play well we should get the result we want.

'I'm not trying to make up for 2003, although I might throw my silver medal away!'