England made a nervous opening as Australia made the early running through promising raids by flanker George Smith and full-back Mat Rogers.

Australia had a clear territorial edge, and they caught England on the back foot through a sucker-punch try after six minutes.

Fly-half Stephen Larkham targeted Jason Robinson on England’s right-wing, and a steepling kick paid rich dividends.

Under pressure from his opposite number Lote Tuqiri, Robinson was found wanting, and Tuqiri’s greater size and bulk resulted in him claiming the the final’s first try.

However centre Elton Flatley missed the conversion, and his opposite number Jonny Wilkinson opened their account through a timely penalty.

England were building pressure, retaining possession as Lawrence Dallaglio and Neil Back hit the fast-moving Australian line hard.

The pressure finally told and after referee Andre Watson had allowed an extended advantage, he pulled play back and handed Wilkinson his second shot at goal.

From a similar position, some 47 metres out, Wilkinson gave England the lead.

Stephen Larkham disappeared to the blood-bin and his replacement Matt Giteau was then hit by one of Wilkinson’s special tackles.

The ball spilled loose, Josh Lewsey recovered and kicked forward but was beaten on the one-on-one chase by Tuqiri, who recovered magnificently to clear for touch.

Wilkinson then missed a long-range drop-goal attempt before collapsing after another attempted tackle on Giteau.

As he lay in midfield, England built their finest attack, stretching Australia but having found the overlap wide on the right Ben Kay took his eye off the ball and with the line only a metre away, he dropped it.

But to their credit, England retained their composure and kept the pressure fiercely on Australia.

A powerful drive from an England scrum forced the Wallabies to spin it and concede the penalty, which Wilkinson converted.

England, despite the Kay missed chance and injury to Wilkinson, had started to establish a definite edge through their forwards.

And at 9-5 ahead, there was an element of calm to England’s game as they went in pursuit of World Cup glory.

Flatley had a chance to cut the arrears after 30 minutes, but he sent a long-range penalty wide, although Australia were immediately boosted by the return of Larkham instead of replacement Giteau.

The heavy conditions were taking a predictable toll on both teams, and it was a common sight to see players slowly rejoining the action after each passage of attacking play.

England were able to absorb Australia’s best attacking efforts, which were exclusively launched through the dangerous Tuqiri, and it was a case of consolidating their Wilkinson-inspired advantage.

As the first half drew to a close, England sensed that another score would give them a sense of breathing space, and a bullocking run by Tindall had Australia’s defence stretched.

Australia won the resulting line-out, yet Tindall was again in the action, spearing Wallabies skipper George Gregan into touch.

And England struck gold two minutes before the break, cutting Australia’s defence to shreds from their first real opportunity.

Scrum-half Matt Dawson spread possession wide, number eight Lawrence Dallaglio took the move on magnificently, and Wilkinson gave the scoring pass to Robinson as England moved 14-5 ahead.

Wilkinson could not land the difficult touchline conversion attempt, but England had a commanding lead at the break, leaving Australia with all the questions to answer.