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PARIS - As a former school teacher, South Africa coach Jake White understands the importance of doing your homework.
He follows the simple philosophy that hard work and preparation are the best way to get good results and has applied those same methods to the Springboks.
White has spent four years building a team he hoped could win a World Cup and they will finally get their chance when they play England in Saturday's final at the Stade de France.
"I've always said that teams that fail to prepare must be prepared to fail, that's been a motto of ours since we got together," White told reporters on Thursday.
"We can't change anything now, we've been working towards this for four years.
"We know exactly what we're going to do. We've won Super-14 and Tri-Nations titles. They already know they have just got to use whatever they've learned along the way. If you've prepared properly, all other things are immaterial."
White has left nothing to chance in preparing his team for Saturday's final but says there is one important lesson he can't teach his players - how to deal with the added pressure of playing in a World Cup final.
The Springboks will go into the final as overwhelming favourites after thrashing England 36-0 during the pool matches but White believes that result is irrelevant because it is a World Cup final.
England have improved enormously since the return of Jonny Wilkinson, who missed the pool game, and White believes their experience of winning the 2003 World Cup gives them a vital edge.
"England's players have won a World Cup away from home before... and that is a huge advantage," White said.
"They must be in a great mindset. They were dead and buried two weeks ago. They came back, they beat Australia and France in two consecutive weekends."
Giant lock Bakkies Botha said the Springboks' forwards were already bracing themselves for a titanic battle with the English pack.
"We know England's going to be a tough match - they're definitely not the same side that they were in the pool game," Botha said.
"They've improved and the senior players keep the composure in the squad. They're definitely going to be a hard one, but I'm looking forward to it. We're just going to give it all this weekend."
South Africa skipper John Smit, whose calmness under pressure helped the Springboks hold off a second half comeback from Fiji in the quarter-finals, said the players were treating the match as the ultimate reward for fours years of work.
"Everything you do is in preparation. Everything forms part of the World Cup build-up," Smit said.
"It's all gone by in a flash. It's been four years of hard work, training, sacrifices, getting to know each other.
"But we haven't come all this way for nothing."
- REUTERS
