South Africa bring an enormous amount to their first World Cup final since their 1995 win: the finishing of Bryan Habana, the power of Jaque Fourie, the skill of Fourie du Preez - and these are only their backs. But will they feel confident enough to use their entire attacking armoury in the final against England?

This week England will have prepared as though that will be South Africa's tactical approach but the evidence suggests that, throughout the knockout stage, the Springbok approach has become tighter and tighter. They had to close down Fiji at the set pieces in the quarter-final, they sat back and absorbed what Argentina could throw at them in the semi-final but they are a far better side than that.

The scrum is so fundamental to the South African game that they will want to challenge England in that area, partly because they will see it as one of England's primary weapons. It is possible (though unlikely, given Jake White's creative approach to coaching) that they could become too bound up with that facet of play but it will be a surprise if, during the early part of the match, they let the ball go much further than Butch James at fly half.

Kicking has become the dominant feature of this World Cup, both at goal via drop kicks, the high ball and to touch. Not all of it has been good and the irony here is that James is now a far better game manager than in his early, wilder years. South Africa have greater cohesion, greater attacking possibilities than England, partly because they have been together longer, but they have to be willing to use those gifts.

They also have two flankers with both speed and strength to cover the ground in Schalk Burger and Juan Smith. They must back themselves at the breakdown and then try to involve their back three - not only Habana, whose try count stands at eight, equalling Jonah Lomu's World Cup record - but the under-rated JP Pietersen and the vastly-experienced Percy Montgomery. World Cup finals bring their own pressures, however, and that could prove to be the determining factor in how wide the Springboks go.