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Springbok coach Jake White is putting more emphasis on a rare victory last year against England than the pool game destruction of their World Cup final rivals.
The 25-14 win at Twickenham ensured White would take the Springboks through to this World Cup campaign, gave them some momentum against their old foes and broke a winning nine-year monopoly England had at their cauldron.
"It saved my job," White said with blunt understatement as he fielded an array of questions about this weekend's final in Paris.
In the murky world of South African rugby, White has been constantly trying to appease the political and social demands on his side while fashioning a competitive squad.
They arrive for the final as the only unbeaten team at this tournament, a side favoured by many to go all the way once they disposed of England in pool play and opened up a "softer" side of the draw.
There were problems against Fiji and Argentina but the Springboks' breadth of skill, resilience and staunch forwards got them through those awkward times.
The 36-0 thrashing they wrought on England a month ago would have them unbackable favourites to repeat their 1995 triumph and send veteran prop Os Du Randt into retirement as a two-time winner.
But the All Blacks should have scorched France, too, after comprehensive twin victories at home this year. However, France were a far different side at this tournament, while the All Blacks lost their way.
England, too, have changed since that pool game defeat. The players seem to have taken far more control since then, with old heads Phil Vickery, Martin Corry, Lawrence Dallaglio, Ben Kay and Jonny Wilkinson driving the style. They know what has won for England before and they have resorted even more to that trench warfare pressure.
Like any sensible coach, White has wiped the slate after the pool game triumph, with the final a one-off meeting of monumental mental conflict. But the Springbok coach also ticks the value from last year at Twickenham. "It was a massive achievement for me. And I think psychologically, we played the English side that were the best they could put on the field at that time," he said.
"To beat them at Twickenham in a game that was probably do or die - it's also an opportunity for these players just to put it in their memory banks. There's no doubt that performance will help us in preparation for the game this weekend."
You can almost feel the needling presence of former Australia coach Eddie Jones, the Boks' hired gun who has been asked to tighten the side's approach and analyse the opposition. As if in response, England wheeled out Dallaglio, a World Cup winner in 2003 and bit-part player at this tournament, but someone who is their macho mascot, the go-to firebrand who has been to the Tony Robbins motivational courses. He hosed down the pool game loss without forgetting all the niceties about respecting the Springboks and lauded England's ability to survive knockout contests.
"Whenever you pull on the shirt and lose it is disappointing. We were second best in all areas that night and South Africa took full advantage and the scoreline reflected that," he said.
"The pressure came on in the aftermath. We looked at our performance and have gone up some levels, particularly the scrum and breakdown.
"Slowly but surely, it has taken a bit of time to reach where we are at the World Cup. Early on, we were staring down the barrel. After South Africa, we knew that with one more slip-up, we would be on our way home.
"If you put Australia in a quarter-final in front of you, you don't need much more motivation - the same with France in the semifinal. In the knockout stages, the motivation steps up. It's all mental; we play smart and know what we have to do."
