This capacity to win with serial consistency is earning Eddie Jones comparisons with the best of those who have managed in the round ball form of football. Though it is early to begin considering symmetries with Sir Alex Ferguson, whose far greater challenges included inheriting a failing team and doing what he always described as a “salesman’s job” in the transfer market, some equivalent traits are emerging.

A watchmaker’s obsession with every last second of the battle, of course – “sometimes you get beaten but you don’t get beaten. That’s when you know you have got a good team,” as Jones put it late on Saturday night – and that capacity to play the media like a fiddle, as well as a fiendish absorption with sports science, too.

Ferguson’s reverence for science and ideas, rooted deep in his working class consciousness, even saw him look to seek ocular specialists to ensure his players were seeing the ball properly and Jones has been drilling for some time into the finer points of ‘tactical periodisation’ - travelling to Qatar to meet one of the developers, Spaniard Alberto Mendez-Villanueva, who has worked with Jose Mourinho and Andre Villas Boas.

It is an abstruse specialism, in which psychological and physical approaches are applied to each of the four scenarios of a game – offensive and defensive organisation, the transition from attack to defence and from defence to attack – and which Jones sees as developing the last quarter fitness which proved to be the difference in the enervating finale against Wales.

The mathematics of his players’ work rate obsesses Jones, too. Ben Youngs revealed two weeks ago that they are allowed three seconds on the floor from a tackle or at the breakdown before coaches get on their back – the so-called ‘bounce time’ – but this is still not good enough for him. Only on Saturday, Jones was discussing the gap between England and the All Blacks which still exists where that signifier is concerned. The stats show England are still seven per cent below New Zealand. “We are still not where we need to be, [even though] the improvement has been enormous,” said Jones. “I think some of the blokes had a cup of tea and a scone with jam and cream before they got off the ground. It was terrible. Just go back and have a look at some of the early tapes and you will see it.” Look away Stuart Lancaster.

Wales vs England player ratings Show all 31 1 /31 Wales vs England player ratings Wales vs England player ratings 15. Leigh Halfpenny - 7 Missed one chance, but such was his kicking that it built the Welsh lead early on. Incredibly reliable under the high ball Getty Images Wales vs England player ratings 14. Alex Cuthbert - 6 If ever there was a sensible yellow card, Cuthbert earned it. His tackle stopped Haskell when everyone the red side of the Severn thought a try was on. Getty Images Wales vs England player ratings 13. Jonathan Davies - 5 Very quiet and struggled to see any ball in hand. Went large phases without having any impact. Getty Images Wales vs England player ratings 12. Jamie Roberts - 7 Had two charging runs that England did well to stop, and his defence was very solid when under pressure. Getty Images Wales vs England player ratings 11. George North - 6 Forced off for a concussion test and starved of the ball, he never seemed to recover from the blow to the head. Getty Images Wales vs England player ratings 10. Dan Biggar - 6 Drop-goal on half-time appeared to the game away from England, but faded in the second half and wale suffered as a result. Getty Images Wales vs England player ratings 9. Rhys Webb - 7 On hand to finish Wales’ opening try and sniped around the edge, but England did well to keep him shackled. Getty Images Wales vs England player ratings 1. Gethin Jenkins - 5 Brought off for Paul James having struggled in the scrum and was very much second best to Dan Cole. Getty Images Wales vs England player ratings 2. Richard Hibbard - 5 His ball at the lineout was below-par and it wasn’t his finest day at the office. Getty Images Wales vs England player ratings 3. Samson Lee - 6 Recovered well after early pressure in the scrum, but picked up an injury in the second half to end his day early. Getty Images Wales vs England player ratings 4. Jake Ball - 6 Struggled to cope with his opposite number and didn’t have the influence on the game that he’s come to enjoy in recent outings. Getty Images Wales vs England player ratings 5. Alun Wyn Jones - 6 Looked to be under pressure in both the lineout and the scrum, and his form deserted him in the second period when Wales needed him most. Getty Images Wales vs England player ratings 6. Dan Lydiate - 6 Gave away a crucial penalty in the second half as England built momentum, but his tackling was as reliable as ever. Getty Images Wales vs England player ratings 7. Sam Warburton - 6 Faded in the second half and was earmarked by England’s defence whenever he got the ball in hand. Getty Images Wales vs England player ratings 8. Taulupe Faletau - 7 Beautiful offload after beating Haskell set-up Webb’s try, but gave away the penalty that allowed Ford to secure the victory. Getty Images Wales vs England player ratings 15. Mike Brown - 7 Deft chip set-up Watson’s try, and was a constant threat whenever he got the ball. Kick to the 5m allowed England to camp on the Welsh line late on. Getty Images Wales vs England player ratings 14. Anthony Watson - 7 Out-gassed Halfpenny to score and drag England back into the game, a strong showing in the air too. No as prevalent in the second half though. Getty Images Wales vs England player ratings 13. Jonathan Joseph - 8 Moment of inspiration after the restart saw him beat three defenders to score, and can be proud of his Millennium debut. Getty Images Wales vs England player ratings 12. Luther Burrell - 8 Didn’t give Roberts and Davies a moments rest and showed his rugby brain with intelligent runs, and was one of the standout performers. Getty Images Wales vs England player ratings 11. Jonny May - 6 Stepped inside to give Webb room to score, and did little with the ball when the opportunity arose. Getty Images Wales vs England player ratings 10. George Ford - 8 Charged down twice in the first-half but passing was strong, missed an early second-half penalty to put England ahead, but more than made up for it with his match-winning penalties. Getty Images Wales vs England player ratings 9. Ben Youngs - 8 Led the England revival and his passing was nothing short of exemplary. Surprising to see him replaced midway through the second half. Getty Images Wales vs England player ratings 1. Joe Marler - 6 Carried well which is often a criticism of his game. Departed for Mako Vunipola after 54 minutes despite dominance in the scrum. Getty Images Wales vs England player ratings 2. Dylan Hartley - 5 Unusually wayward with his lineout ball and taken off after 54 minutes for Tom Youngs as a result. Getty Images Wales vs England player ratings 3. Dan Cole - 7 his lack of game time, Cole’s performance was outstanding, and a turnover on his own 22 when under pressure defined his strong showing. Getty Images Wales vs England player ratings 4. Dave Attwood - 7 Marshalled the defence very well and helped his rapidly growing reputation. One error came when he picked the ball up in a ruck. Getty Images Wales vs England player ratings 5. George Kruis - 8 His first England start? You wouldn’t know it, as he commanded the lineout superbly and really stood out in the battle of the packs. Getty Images Wales vs England player ratings 6. James Haskell - 6 At fault for the opening try with his missed tackle on Faletau, and managed to spurn the chance to score a try when it looked nailed on. Getty Images Wales vs England player ratings 7. Chris Robshaw - 7 Struggled in the lineout early but recovered well. As usual, led by example in defence, and importantly got Jerome Garces on his side early on. Getty Images Wales vs England player ratings 8. Billy Vunipola - 7 Targeted by the Welsh defence but coped very well and never took a backwards step. As players tired his pinch tackle flourished. Getty Images Wales vs England player ratings Best off the bench: Tom Youngs - 7 Did what Hartley couldn’t in the lineout and could be in contention to start next week. GETTY IMAGES

Jones’ introduction of New Zealand to the conversation - and his unflinching “Yes” when asked if, subconsciously, he calibrates everything against a measure of what it would take to beat the Kiwis - provides another echo of Ferguson. In every conversation with him it was a given that Manchester United went to work each day aiming to be the world’s best. Jones is exceptional, if not unique, among England coaches, in any sport, in his willingness to state the same. He was withering, late on Saturday, when asked if the win in Cardiff might influence Warren Gatland’s British Lions selection. “I’ve got no interest in the Lions. I’m not coaching the Lions. Ask Warren, don’t ask me. Seriously, I’ve got no interest. I’ll fly down there and have a look at a Test and have a bit of lamb…” Arrogance? Oh, absolutely.

He and Ferguson share that tendency to retain a distance between themselves and their players; to protect their own absolutely in the public space, yet to use that space to send a message. Dylan Hartley was withdrawn painfully early on Saturday and the head coach’s observations as to why was brutally bereft of sentiment. “Every decision is made on the ability of the player to work. When they start to drop off - we have parameters for how quickly they get off the ground - and when they start getting slow off the ground we make a change. It’s got nothing to do with anything else.”

There are clearly precious few teacups thrown by Jones – and Ferguson was not a man of serial rage, either, despite some characterisations. To have heard England players’ disclosures about the half time intervals on each of the past weekends is to understand that. It means that desire, not fear, drives the closing moments. Ferguson’s version of tactical periodization was to create the conditions of entering the closing stages in arrears and to train them for that psychological pressure. “Late goals are no accident,” he once said.

Elliot Daly's try handed England a late victory (REUTERS)

“How many games out of our last 15 wins have we won in [the] last 20 minutes,” Jones asked, after the try at the death which left Wales so punctured and devastated. “That's not by coincidence. It's because we train to win those last 20 minutes…” It was ‘character’, Jones said. “And grit. And belief and believing we can win. And we're fit. We’re a fit side now.”

He is a more assured operator in the media environment than Ferguson – verbally sharper, funnier and blissfully free of the paranoia about the press which beset Ferguson by the end. Of course, the Glaswegian’s descent into deep suspicion about United’s chroniclers was borne of having being written off when Jose Mourinho arrived to the Premier League and seemed set to take his crown. He survived both Mourinho and the bestowment of Arab riches on Manchester City, winning his last title by 11 points – more or less roughly the same lead which is fuelling talk of Antonio Conte’s genius quality, now.

Joe Launchbury celebrates after England's memorable win in Cardiff (Getty)

It is when Jones hits a bump in the road - as he will - that we will learn how far the comparison can be extended. You suspect that the media briefings will be considerably shorter and the one liners in shorter supply. The more swagger you give out in the good times, the more collateral damage you risk in the bad.