Eddie always knows what he's doing.

So whether he's engaging in a public battle with Michael Cheika or remaining unusually quiet leading into Saturday's first Test, there's always a reason why.

"He comes across as mad, but he knows exactly what he's doing," Glen Ella said.

"In his comments, whether he's stirring up the English or the Australians, he knows exactly what's going on. There's never anything that's out of his control."

Brumbies legend Stirling Mortlock agrees, nothing Jones does is without reason.

"He'll do things this tour that he'll know why he's doing it but externally might not make sense," Mortlock said. "He's extremely methodical, he's unbelievably well-planned. Things don't happen by mistake."

Ella grew up alongside the current England coach, the pair going to school together and teammates at Randwick.

Ella recalls Jones routinely using his brain to outwit his rivals in the schoolyard.

"At school he was like he is now," Ella said. "He was very cheeky but also one of the smartest kids in the school.

"He was so much more intelligent than other school kids. His sledges always hit the mark, but he was a good player as well."

Perhaps the most impactful moment in his coaching career came in its early years.

Taking over the Brumbies in 1998, Jones faltered.

One year after a grand final loss, the side finished 10^th with just three wins.

The failure triggered months of reviews and introspection.

"The amount of development and up-skilling and hard work he put in after that first season was remarkable," Mortlock said.

"It was a tough season, we had a pretty bad year. Eddie had a huge review of the whole program, of him personally, of the coaching staff.

"The Eddie Jones we saw as soon as we resumed in the pre-season was vastly different. The amount of growth he'd had in less than one year was phenomenal."

Such a turnaround points to Jones' longevity. Across a 25-year career, he has constantly reinvented himself.

From the man who led Australia to the 2003 World Cup final to the veteran who plotted Japan's stunning victory over South Africa in 2015, he has shown a remarkable ability to stay one step ahead of his rivals.

While Jones has become known for his outside-the-box thinking, Mortlock fondly recalls anti-jetlag glasses, his knowledge of rugby has underpinned every success.

"He's an absolute student of the game," he said. "His rugby intellect is one of the best of any person I've met.

"Part of that methodology is he always wanted to improve as a coach and a person. That's the hallmark of his whole career."

Ella reunited with his close friend when Jones returned to Australia in 2016 as the new England coach.

They were heavy underdogs after a disastrous 2015 World Cup. It didn't take long for Ella to realise the Wallabies were in for a surprise.

"After being with Eddie for a couple of weeks, I knew England would beat Australia," Ella said.

"The way the guys trained, they were switched on. They knew they were here to do a job on Australia and they ended up doing that."

The common theme among all who have worked with Jones is his ability to get the best out of his players.

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While he has rubbed some the wrong way, few question his rugby brain.

Jones approaches the game from a different angle. It's what many need to unlock their potential.

"I only got Eddie late in my career," Peter Hewat said. "He pushed me to limits I never thought I could get to.

"My only regret was not being able to be coached by him earlier in my career.

"He challenges you to think about things in a different way."

The coach finds himself in a unique position on his latest tour of Australia.

With England reeling from a disastrous Six Nations, the pressure is growing.

The visitors are clear underdogs against a resurgent Wallabies side.

Few expect England to claim a series win.

It's exactly the situation Jones relishes.

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