When the history of the sixth World Cup is written, it could well be labelled the tournament of the underdog. Throughout the pool phase, those dogs were yapping at the heels of their alleged betters and on Saturday, in Cardiff and here at the Stade Vélodrome, a savage chunk was taken from the countries ranked first and second in the world.

England, who have lurked in the shadows since winning the Webb Ellis Cup in Sydney four years ago, burst so unexpectedly into the sunshine of the semi-finals that it was hard to comprehend the degree to which this squad have improved in three weeks. They played a game that neither Australia nor the rest of us believed they could play, at the breakdown and out wide.

It all began with a set-piece solidarity they have not shown for nearly two years, and certainly not at this tournament. But the Herculean efforts of Andrew Sheridan and his colleagues in the scrum would have counted for nothing had not England won the collisions and displayed the confidence to challenge the Wallabies across the field; the weakness – and it has been a besetting sin – is that they could not finish what they started, otherwise they would not have stood under their own posts with 90 seconds left wondering whether Stirling Mortlock’s penalty attempt from the touchline would deny them victory.

But the kick drifted, not that far, to the left and Australia’s captain gnashed his teeth. Even then, England had time to lose control of a lineout and give Australia one final chance. Whenever the Wallabies built phase play they looked dangerous; the quarter-final’s one try came after a protracted sequence that ended when Lote Tuqiri slipped Josh Lewsey’s tackle and registered his first – and only, as it turned out – score of the tournament.

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Saturday was a real joy to be part of. One of the best days of my life

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Such passages of play came very seldom, the effect both of England’s obdurate defence, in which Paul Sackey played a brilliantly intelligent role, and a surprising lack of composure by Australia’s most seasoned players. Rocky Elsom and Dan Vickerman became caught up in the physical exchanges, to their team’s detriment, but even Mortlock and Chris Latham carried the power running too far; the belief that they could burst through one more tackle left England able to break their rhythm, slow down possession and leave George Gregan trying to kick-start the motor again.

So Gregan leaves the international stage after 139 caps, a wonderful 13-year career, on a downbeat note; his partner in so many games, Stephen Larkham, will quit after 102 caps, regretting that injury prevented him playing a role here. Larkham’s young replacement, Berrick Barnes, could be proud of his showing and will doubtless return to haunt England in the future, but so many of his colleagues failed to find the required level when they most needed to.

There has not been a more accurate, more systematic England display since the great days of the 2003 winners. It began, on a broiling hot afternoon, from the very first minute; it drew strength from the capacity to put Lewis Moody into space, even if his pass to Nick Easter did not go to hand, but it was nourished throughout by the massive effort at the scrum.

There were only three in the first half, all Australia’s put-in, but each one painted a picture: the first was reset three times before Phil Vickery was penalised for taking his side down. The verdict clearly puzzled England but Vickery had only words of praise for Alain Rolland, the referee. “He has two teams who want to scrummage, whether it’s legal or illegal, and it’s the toss of a coin,” Vickery said. “As the game wore on, Alain realised our pack were genuinely trying to scrummage and it went against Australia.”

The second scrum wheeled and gave Australia a free kick, the third collapsed and Jonny Wilkinson’s penalty attempt went wide from 26 metres. It was the second of three missed kicks by the fly half against two by Mortlock but by now, every time the scrum packed down, Australia knew a mountain of pain. Guy Shepherdson will not have encountered a more powerful man than Sheridan and, when he left, Al Baxter knew precisely what to expect because he had opposed Sheridan at Twickenham in 2005.

“I think Graham Rowntree [the scrummaging coach] has done a big job with this pack,” Matt Stevens, who replaced Vickery midway through the second half, said. “He only came in last year, he had to take things forward and he’s on the way to doing that.”

Once England had threatened to drive Australia back over their own line, the overall effect was to ensure that Australia had to build their game while going backwards and no set of backs, however talented, enjoys that.

Their half-time lead of 10-6 had been overtaken by the final quarter and the introduction of a wave of replacements did nothing to disturb England’s powerful grip. The breadth of the first half changed to a kicking game for territory, by Wilkinson – whose four penalty goals made him the leading points-scorer in World Cup history (his 234 overtaking Gavin Hastings’s 227) – by Mike Catt and by Toby Flood.

There were isolated Australia eruptions from Drew Mitchell, but so exciting a player as Matt Giteau was all but invisible. Had Wilkinson found the posts from the halfway line with five minutes remaining, England might have breathed easier but they have learnt to do things the hard way and the lesson has served them well.

Scorers: Australia: Try: Tuqiri (33min). Conversion: Mortlock. Penalty goal: Mortlock (7). England: Penalty goals: Wilkinson 4 (22, 26, 52, 57).

Scoring sequence (Australia first): 3-0, 3-3, 3-6, 10-6 (half-time), 10-9, 10-12.

Australia: C Latham; A Ashley-Cooper (rep: D Mitchell, 64), S Mortlock, M Giteau, L Tuqiri; B Barnes, G Gregan; M Dunning, S Moore (rep: A Freier, 73), G Shepherdson (rep: A Baxter, 65), N Sharpe, D Vickerman (rep: H McMeniman, 28-30), R Elsom (rep: McMeniman, 64), G Smith (rep: P Waugh, 64), W Palu (rep: S Hoiles, 76).

England: J Robinson (unattached); P Sackey (London Wasps), M Tait (Newcastle Falcons), M Catt (London Irish; rep: T Flood, Newcastle Falcons, 63), J Lewsey (London Wasps); J Wilkinson (Newcastle Falcons), A Gomarsall (Harlequins; rep: P Richards, London Irish, 22-28); A Sheridan (Sale Sharks), M Regan (Bristol; rep: G Chuter, Leicester, 52), P Vickery (London Wasps; rep: M Stevens, Bath, 57), S Shaw (London Wasps), B Kay (Leicester), M Corry (Leicester), L Moody (Leicester; rep: J Worsley, London Wasps, 65), N Easter (Harlequins; rep: L Dallaglio, London Wasps, 69).

Referee: A Rolland (Ireland).

Attendance: 59,102.