But while George Gregan delivered the motivating words and presented the jerseys in London, the mission to reconnect with the history in the gold jumper started two months ago.

The Wallabies will play New Zealand in the World Cup final on Saturday (Sunday morning AEDT). But no one in the 31-man squad has ever beaten the All Blacks to win the Bledisloe Cup and Matt Giteau is the only player who has been in a World Cup final.

So Cheika has used past players as a link to a golden era in Australian rugby in a bid to lift his players in their chase for World Cup glory. Australia's 1999 World Cup champions called players to tell them they had been picked in Cheika's squad for the tournament.

Cheika also asked those players to offer some advice, and their words have resonated with the new generation. "It was a huge honour [to have Gregan present the jerseys]. These sorts of occasions call for the big guns and Cheika brought [Gregan] in," said prop Scott Sio. "Just to hear how passionate he is about the jersey and how passionate he is about representing Australia … what's most important to us when we're out there. That was huge for us. I know a lot of the boys will take what they can from that and run with it on the weekend."

Cheika said: "George made some points to the guys about the emotions and the feelings and what he thought. If you're going to take advice from someone, you may as well take advice from someone who's been there, done that. George is not always the nice commentator you all see on the TV all the time. That player's got edge. And I want them to hear from players like that."

The Wallabies players got a surprise on the eve of the World Cup announcement when their phones starting buzzing with unknown numbers. Former captain John Eales called new skipper Stephen Moore, Chris Latham called Drew Mitchell, Joe Roff spoke to Adam Ashley-Cooper and Joseph Tomane, Matt Giteau got Tim Horan, Matt Burke had Israel Folau and Phil Kearns spoke to Tatafu Polota-Nau.

"I called Gits at about 7.30 at night, and he said: 'Thanks, Timmy. But you're leaving it late'. He was already booked on a plane at 6.30 the next morning," two-time World Cup-winner Horan said. "I just said enjoy it. If you don't embrace the moment, it flies by very quickly. I don't have a lot of memory of the week leading into the 1991 World Cup final. It's a bit better for 1999. But that was 16 years ago. It moves quickly. You want memories for it."

The All Blacks have lost just two games in the past four years. But one of those was to the Wallabies two months ago.

Roff said seeing the current Wallabies perform was making past players want to get back on the field for the first time in a long time. That's what the Cheika revival has done – inspired the current squad and made legends jealous of their achievements.

"These guys have a chance to make history," said champion winger Roff. "Maybe for the first time since I retired, I envy and would love more than anything to be in that position to create history. The rest of us believe in them. This is the biggest game between Australia and New Zealand. Full stop. It's just the greatest opportunity any player can have. I genuinely believe they can bring home the cup."