Rod Macqueen (Australia)
Rod Macqueen replaced Greg Smith as coach of the Wallabies in 1997 at a time when Australian rugby was in crisis. He has emerged as one of the most successful Australian coaches ever. Going into the final, Australia have won 23 of the 29 games they have played under Macqueen.
Macqueen, now 49, was a huge success as coach of the fledgling ACT Brumbies provincial team in the Super 12 tournament and took over at a time when Australia were getting thumped on a regular basis by New Zealand and South Africa.
As a player in the 1970s, Macqueen played in the back row for the Warringah and Eastwood clubs in Sydney and it was with Warringah reserve grade that he started coaching in the mid 1980s.
The following year, Macqueen took over the coaching of the first grade side, leading them to the final of the New South Wales Grand Final in 1988. Three years later he was elevated to NSW coach and in 1992 he became an Australian selector, a role he filled again in 1994 and 1995. Since Macqueen took charge of the Wallabies they have thrashed England 76-0, Ireland 46-10, Scotland 45-3 and regained the Bledisloe Cup from New Zealand, although New Zealand have since taken it back.
A win over the All Blacks last month showed Macqueen's team was ready to mount a real challenge for the world title and they have won all five of their matches in the tournament so far, conceding just one try in the process.
Jean-Claude Skrela (France)
No coach came into the World Cup under more pressure than Jean-Claude Skrela - whose job prospects were being written off four weeks ago.
After two straight Five Nations Grand Slams, the French were regarded as the Northern Hemisphere team capable of best challenging for the Cup. Then, a series of crushing defeats - including a horror tour to New Zealand and the South Pacific - led to calls for Skrela's head, but he held on.
A series of unconvincing first-round performances increased the pressure on 50-year-old Skrela, but the French players responded brilliantly with impressive wins over Argentina in the quarter-finals and then tournament favourites New Zealand in the semis.
Capped 46 times by France between 1971 and 1978, Skrela remains one of their greatest-ever flankers. Along with Jean-Pierre Rives and JeanPierre Bastiat he formed a magnificent back row and in 1977 was a Grand Slam winner.
Having retired at the age of 28, Skrela became coach of Toulouse in 1982 and, after a spell at Colomiers, took charge of the national side four years ago. A 10-9 win over Ireland on the opening day of the last Five Nations championship was France's only win over a major side leading up to the tournament, but Skrela remained unmoved, pointing out it was results during, not before, the tournament that count. He has been proved right.
