Eddie Jones is taking the Wallabies back to the future with a spiritual pre-World Cup training camp in the Northern Territory in the hope of igniting the same fire that vaulted Australia to the 2003 final.
Twenty years after Jones' Wallabies were inspired - and hardened - by a tropical trip to Darwin and Arnhem Land, the master motivator plans to follow the same path towards 2023 World Cup glory in France.
Jones says his 33-man squad will venture to the Northern Territory after July's Rugby Championship and the second Bledisloe Cup match on August 5 to acclimatise for the global showpiece being staged in the European autumn.
"Darwin is a hot-weather camp. You don't get any hotter places in Australia than Darwin. We know the quarter-final is likely to be quite hot," he said.
"That makes sense. And Arnhem Land is the spiritual home of Australia and we want the players to feel that."
Speaking from his own "awesome" experience two decades ago, Stirling Mortlock, Australia's captain for the last France-hosted World Cup in 2007 and semi-final hero of the Wallabies' 2003 campaign, believes Jones' move is a masterstroke.
"Firstly, it was intense. We trained for two full days and it was bloody hot," Mortlock told AAP.
Of more significance, though, was how the Indigenous locals of Arnhem Land hosted an uplifting ceremony for the Wallabies where all the players were painted in ochre and received gifts from the community, including art work portraying a Wallaby reaching for the stars.
"To have those gifts symbolised in our change rooms for every game was really powerful," Mortlock said.
"It was a spiritual moment for the whole entire team and a great anchor for us for the World Cup that we were representing a whole entire country but also we had an amazing experience in Arnhem Land together."
Mortlock even recalls screaming out "Darwin" when the Wallabies' World Cup final against England - which Australia ultimately lost to a Jonny Wilkinson drop goal - went into extra time.
"The word obviously had a double whammy because (prop) Ben Darwin did his neck the week before and of course our experience in Darwin," he said.
"It was awesome."
The first Test under Jones will be game one of a shortened Rugby Championship, taking on South Africa in Pretoria on July 8.
They then have two games on home soil before the final Bledisloe Cup against New Zealand in Dunedin.
The Wallabies have a pre-World Cup warm-up Test against tournament hosts France before opening their tournament against Georgia in Paris on September 9.
They will spend the bulk of the tournament in Saint Etienne, where they will be based and also play two matches.
