Two years is a long time in sport.
In November 2017 South Africa rocked up to the Aviva Stadium and fell to a record 38-3 defeat to Ireland.
And it was just four months after that game that Joe Schmidt's side put England to the sword in Twickenham to seal the 2018 Grand Slam.
Not too long ago some Irish players talked about the possibility of being in the World Cup mix at this point but that notion proved wide of the mark, to say the least.
Now two teams that Ireland side beat impressively in 2017/18 find themselves in a play-off for the Webb Ellis trophy.
The only Irish tie to this game is to be found in South Africa’s backroom team where Felix Jones, formerly a coach at Munster, has been on 'opposition analysis' duty since just before the tournament.
Jones turned down "other coaching opportunities" within the IRFU before heading south.
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What we are left with after a roller-coaster six-week period is a decider between two World Cup heavyweights, contesting their third (SA) and fourth finals (England).
The latter stages of this tournament is no place for pretenders.
Eddie Jones has sharpened the considerable tools at his disposable like a master craftsman, getting the team right at the right time. Preparation: 10/10.
That's one of the reasons that it’s hard to escape the sense that this game is a coronation.
That's not to say that it will be easy won, it’s more that there is an inevitability about the outcome, so much further are England along their journey and so good have the Red Rose been to this point.
Fears that England peaked too soon (namely against Ireland on 24 August) have proved unfounded.
Should Jones’ men, six-point favourites, win tomorrow then they will have beaten all four Rugby Championship teams along the way, and the Tri-Nations teams in a 14-day period, a feat without equal.
Pool stage wins over Tonga, USA and Argentina came as no surprise and they got the bonus of an extra rest week when their tie with France was cancelled due to Typhoon Hagibis.
Australia were brushed aside, 46-16, in the quarter-final before what many people claim is one of the best ever World Cup performances.
New Zealand, the 2011 and 2015 winners, couldn’t match England’s speed, desire, power and execution. Jones’ side had two tries disallowed in a 19-7 win.
It was as comprehensive a victory as we have seen, the margin flattering only the All Blacks.
Similar to the Six Nations game against Ireland, England started off with a power-play and were over the line in the opening minutes. In fact, England have scored tries in the opening ten minutes in nine of 14 matches this year.
ENGLAND v SOUTH AFRICA: ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW
A repeat on Saturday morning will go a long way towards a second title. The Springboks are nothing if not impressive specimens but equally what they have in power and size they lack in creativity and smarts.
They didn't score a try in either of their two previous World Cup finals, 1995 and 2007, when they beat England 15-6.
Chasing a game, much like Ireland, doesn’t suit their style.
So Felix Jones has the toughest of tasks in finding a weakness in the England team.
Lock Maro Itoje was man of the match against the All Blacks and is the heartbeat of the England pack, alongside Courtney Lawes. Sam Underhill and Tom Curry mop up all around, while Billy Vunipola gives that vital front-foot ball with his powerful carries.
Ben Youngs is providing an underrated service to his first receivers, with George Ford and Owen Farrell in the form of their lives.
Jonny May, Anthony Watson and Elliot Daly are strike-runners of the highest class and appear in their element on this stage.
England’s only change in their match-day squad is the inclusion of late call-up Ben Spencer of Saracens as scrum-half replacement in the absence of Willi Heinz.
Seven of the England 23 are Saracens and bring a winning mentality to the table.
What about the pressure of favouritism?
Judging by Dan Cole and Joe Marler’s joint press conference during the week you know that they are not feeling it.
The duo, two of England’s so-called finishers (subs), laughed and joked their way through the show, betraying an inner ease within the camp. It was refreshing.
Eddie Jones said: "We've had four years to prepare for this game. We've got good tactical clarity about how we want to play, we're fit, we're enjoying the tournament - the only sadness is that the tournament is going to end.
"We're having a great time, we want it to continue, but it comes to an end so we've got one more opportunity to play well. So we want to play with no fear on Saturday, just get out there and play the game.
"We know South Africa aren't going to give us the game, they are going to come hard. We've got meet their physicality but we are looking forward to that and being able to impose our game on them."
Rassie Erasmus has done exceptional work to turn the squad that arrived at Lansdowne Road, under Allister Coetzee, into genuine contenders. Incidentally, six of the starters that day are named for the final.
The former Munster boss will stay on as Director of Rugby after the World Cup but steps away from the head coach role.
He said: "When I went to Munster, I was sort of in the mode of doing the family thing and making sure that I see my children in the last four or five years before they get out of school, and thinking more strategically in terms of how we are going to get the schoolboys when I got back to South Africa, and help the sevens and help Allister (Coetzee).
"The moment you get hands-on with the Springboks again, the adrenaline starts pumping and you get back into the mould again. It is a totally different feeling, and I am enjoying it thoroughly now.
"It's wonderful to be here. It’s sad that it’s [coming to an end], and then it is all over. But I will be heavily involved, hopefully, still after this – whatever way we are going to go with the head coach."
Identifying where their strengths lay, Erasmus has moulded a team that uses its significant brawn to get the job done.
They don't have any pretense and it is, of course, their prerogative to play how they deem most effective.
But if England’s win over New Zealand was rugby at its best, then the South Africans' semi-final success against Wales was simply brutal.
It was an ugly contest in which they decided that the ball was not their friend, kicking 40 times from hand off 39% possession, while making two offloads and two line breaks in total.
Wales could offer nothing better and inevitably succumbed in the end.
It’s hard to see that South Africa, the Rugby Championship winners, have anything better in their locker.
If they were to win they would become the first side to lose a pool game and go on to pick up the main prize.
Following their defeat to New Zealand in their opening game, they hammered Namibia, Italy and Canada to set up a quarter-final with Japan, in which they ran out 26-3 winners.
They make one change with speedster Cheslin Kolbe returning to the left wing.
But their hopes are tied to their monster pack maintaining parity with England for as long as possible. Lood de Jager and Eben Etzebeth can look after themselves, while captain Siya Kolisi and his fellow back-rowers Pieter-Steph du Toit and Duane Vermeulen will also put in a shift.
In the backs Faf de Klerk has been outstanding in this tournament but outside of the diminutive scrum-half there is a lack of cutting edge.
Out-half Handre Pollard can boot the ball all day but that is unlikely to be good enough. Lukhanyo Am and Damian de Allende have the ability to break a line but Manu Tuilagi has been exceptional in defence.
Erasmus has gone for 6:2 split on the bench, again a sign that they try to keep the battle tight, hoping, as happened against Wales, to force mistakes and allow Pollard to kick the scores.
It would be unrealistic to think that England could reach the same heights as last week but even getting close could be good enough.
South Africa will have to find something extra to upset the odds but it's England's to lose.
Verdict: England
England: Elliot Daly, Anthony Watson, Manu Tuilagi, Owen Farrell (capt), Jonny May, George Ford, Ben Youngs; Mako Vunipola, Jamie George, Kyle Sinckler, Maro Itoje, Courtney Lawes, Tom Curry, Sam Underhill, Billy Vunipola.
Replacements: Luke Cowan-Dickie, Joe Marler, Dan Cole, George Kruis, Mark Wilson, Ben Spencer, Henry Slade, Jonathan Joseph.
South Africa: Willie Le Roux, Cheslin Kolbe, Lukhanyo Am, Damian de Allende, Makazole Mapimpi, Handre Pollard, Faf de Klerk; Tendai Mtawarira, Mbongeni Mbonambi, Frans Malherbe, Eben Etzebeth, Lood de Jager, Siya Kolisi (capt), Pieter-Steph Du Toit, Duane Vermeulen.
Replacements: Malcolm Marx, Steven Kitshoff, Vincent Koch, RG Snyman, Franco Mostert, Francois Louw, Herschel Jantjies, Frans Steyn.
Referee: Jerome Garces (France).
Follow England v South Africa in the Rugby World Cup final (kick-off 9am) this weekend via our live blog on RTE.ie/Sport and the News Now app, or watch live on RTÉ2 from 8am.
