CARDIFF, Wales -- When the dust has settled on Saturday's match, when the sweat and blood has been washed away, there will be a moment of calmness and clarity.
Warren Gatland and Eddie Jones will share a bottle of pinot noir in the post-match function. One will still be in with a shout at the Grand Slam as they both seek the perfect championship-sized full stop on their Six Nations journey.
Jones may yet continue for another two years as England boss through to 2021, but this is Gatland's last championship.
Gatland has at times felt under-appreciated by the Welsh rugby public. But a win on Saturday against England and he will be granted the opportunity to leave the job in the perfect way, as a winner and it will offer him a moment to stand in front of those who have taken pot shots at him throughout his Wales tenure and drop the mic as he exits stage left to head home to New Zealand or even into the England hot seat.
There is mutual respect between Jones and Gatland.
The two shared a curry before the championship launch in January -- the Welsh Rugby Union picked up the bill, poking fun at how their English counterparts at the RFU were struggling financially.
They have sparred in the past but Jones has unwavering respect for those who have succeeded in life and at the sport. For Gatland, if someone has en eye for a good red wine, then they are probably a good sort.
Though Jones has been a touch mischievous in his constant tongue-in-cheek praise of Wales this week -- referring to them as the greatest Wales side as Gatland's lot have equalled the national record for an unbeaten run -- he has refrained from pouring petrol on the pre-match fires.
On the flip side, the closest Gatland has come to lobbing a verbal grenade was him describing Kyle Sinckler as a ticking "time-bomb" -- a player he deeply admires.
He also poked fun at England's travelling logistics predicting they would be blocked in at rush-hour in Newport on Friday evening, and probably behind a tractor. He also, in his own mischievous way, shut down Jones' comments over this being the biggest ever game for Wales. "It's only England," Gatland joked.
There have been some enthralling subplots popping up this week.
Back on Tuesday, Gatland emerged as the front-run to be crowned Jones' successor -- whether Jones leaves England after the World Cup or sees out the remaining two years of his tenure remains ambiguous.
But there will be no bitterness between the two parties. Jones will probably tease Gatland over it when the two meet for a post-match pinot noir. Gatland will joke the RFU can't afford him.
These days of multi-national coaching teams -- England's defence coach John Mitchell used to be Gatland's flatmate in their Waikato days -- and the regularity at which England's players mix with Wales counterparts at club level and with the British & Irish Lions have seen the hate levels between the two countries thaw.
Back in 1977, when English-Wales rugby hostilities were bubbling nicely, Phil Bennett delivered his infamous speech ahead of their match in Cardiff where he labelled England "bastards" and translated coal relations and tendencies to purchase holiday properties in Wales to rugby.
Such exclamations are now anachronistic in the professional game. Instead with national tensions parked, it will be down to Gatland and Jones to get their teams firing in their own unique way.
The Principality Stadium was Anthony Joshua's temporary home and Jones wants his team to approach Saturday's game like a heavyweight boxer; he wants them to be alert, and then pick their moment to unleash the knockout punch.
Jones has warned his team Wales will want to "rip their heads off". That's perhaps a little far-fetched possibility given these days of TMO's and citings, and the Wales lot are actually a nice bunch, but still, that's Jones speak for hyping up his team's physicality and getting them mentally prepared.
Gatland has spoken of England having no idea what animal awaits them in the Cardiff bear pit on Saturday. Though they haven't played as well as England yet in this Six Nations, they have grounds for optimism with this arguably the best squad Gatland has worked with.
And then, there is that unique home advantage of the Principality Stadium - even with the roof open -- where 'Hymns and Arias' is roared from the heavens, creating a claustrophobic, suffocating, chest-reverberating amphitheatre of Welsh fervour.
"The big challenge for England is that for five of their forward pack, it's the first time they are starting at the Principality Stadium," Gatland said. "That's going to be a new experience for them."
On late Friday afternoon, you could sense the excitement building.
Ticket touts were already attempting to flog tickets on St Mary Street. Internationals from yesteryear Simon Shaw and Lee Mears -- both no strangers to this match -- strolled around the city centre, no doubt being hit by pangs of nostalgia and perhaps sporting jealousy at those playing Saturday.
The stadium was having its sound checks, the PA booming out on the eerily quiet Westgate Street, a far cry from what it'll be like on Saturday when you won't be able to move for face-painted supporters drinking from plastic cups. It is all bubbling nicely in this rugby hotbed.
The game will be decided on the gainline. England will hope their kicking game either wins the game, or creates enough of a distraction to offer other avenues.
In turn, Jones is expecting Wales to throw a multi-dimensional attack at them; a departure from what he calls "Wazza-ball" - potentially another touch of cheekiness from the England camp. Gatland has unwavering confidence in their game plan, saying they have flown under the radar so far but on Saturday we will see the real Wales.
And so, away from the cordial relations between the two camps, on Saturday in late afternoon, as the sun peaks down behind the open roof in Cardiff, Wales and England will go toe-to-toe in an arm-wrestle of a Test match for the ages.
There will be no inch given, every breakdown will be hit like a tonne of bricks and bodies will be pushed to their maximum. Grand Slams rest on games like these. This isn't just another game in a World Cup year, it is a match which will mould legacies.