Springbok advisor Eddie Jones says if the South Africans manage to claim the World Cup final, it will go a long way to erasing some the heartache he felt four years ago when in charge of the failed Australian World Cup bid.

"I won't be thinking 'gee that makes up for 2003' but I might throw the silver medal away," Jones told a news conference.

Australia came ever so close to beating England in the RWC final four years ago, before a late drop goal by Jonny Wilkinson stole the show.

Jones admitted England was a better side than the Wallabies in 2003 and had deserved to win but now believes the Springboks are a superior team to the current English squad.

"In 2003, we had to battle to get to the final," Jones said.

"But this South African team has got to the final without playing as well as they probably would have liked, so that's the exciting part about it.

"I think South Africa is potentially the best team and if we play well, we'll get the result we want but we have to play well."

Jones said the Springboks have the ability to adapt to any conditions and can switch game plans in the flick of an eye – as well as some potent outside backs who have a strong nose for the tryline.

"The good thing about South Africa is that we have been able to score tries when we've had the opportunity and I think that's going to be a significant factor in the final," Jones said.

"If you cancel out the set-pieces, cancel out the defence then your ability to score points is going to be massive.

"We'll play how we need to play, we're able to play a tight grinding game, if we need to kick for field position we can, if we need to shift the shift then we can shift the ball.

"I think that's how you want rugby to be played, you want to be able to play a number of different ways."

Jones said Jonny Wilkinson presented an obvious threat but the South Africans would not single him out for any special attention, opting instead to cut down his supply of ball.

"It's not about closing Jonny down, it's about winning that ball up front and neutralising their ball," Jones said.

"Defensively he's still good but he's probably not as dominant a player as he was in 2003.

"The thing about Jonny is that he gives the English squad enormous confidence and you can see guys around him play better when he's out there because he has won a World Cup, he still kicks reasonably well, he still kicks a field goal here and there and he's tough player.