ENGLAND 15 AUSTRALIA 0

GLOUCESTERSHIRE'S Danielle Waterman scored one of the tries that helped put England through to the final of the Women's World Cup.

England will play New Zealand in the final on Sunday (5.15pm) after the thrilling semi-final defeat of Australia at the Twickenham Stoop.

It will be a third consecutive World Cup meeting for the giants of the women's game, but this time England will be hoping they can topple the Black Ferns on home soil and win the trophy for the first time in 16 years.

England booked their place in the final thanks to tries from skipper Catherine Spencer and full back Waterman in the first half. Katy McLean and Alice Richardson added five points from the boot.

England head coach Gary Street, whose side have defeated Ireland, Kazakhstan, USA and Australia en route to the final, said: "I'm delighted we are in the final. This is just reward for all the management and players who have worked so hard."

England made their presence felt straight away against Australia.

They carried that momentum forward with a good scrum deep into Australia's territory and, in true Spencer style, the explosive number eight picked and went from the back of the scrum to score after just seven minutes. Fly half Katy McLean added the conversion.

Australia were constantly on the defence and they saved a near score by Fiona Pocock, who was just metres from touching down on the left wing, with a ferocious tackle by Nicole Beck.

Their defence could not keep holding up, though, and after more attacks they ran out of defenders when Amy Turner, having a superb game at scrum half on her 50th cap, popped the ball up to Waterman on the right wing after Emily Scarratt was tackled just short of the try line.

McLean missed the conversion and the hosts went into the break 12-0 up.

The spirit and defence of the Australians did not falter in the second half and this, combined with a lack of precision by England, prevented further scores.

Australia, in fact, seemed even more inspired and made England work hard both in attack and defence.

England, however, weathered the storm, and added a 78th-minute penalty through Richardson.

England: 15 Danielle Waterman (Worcester), 14 Charlotte Barras (Saracens), 13 Emily Scarratt (Lichfield), 12 Alice Richardson (Richmond), 11 Fiona Pocock (Richmond), 10 Katy McLean (Darlington Mowden Park Sharks) VC, 9 Amy Turner (Richmond), 1 Rochelle Clark (Team Northumbria), 2 Amy Garnett (Saracens), 3 Rosemarie Crowley (Lichfield), 4 Tamara Taylor (Darlington Mowden Park Sharks), 5 Jo McGilchrist (Wasps), 6 Heather Fisher (Worcester), 7 Margaret Alphonsi (Saracens), 8 Catherine Spencer (Bristol) Captain. Replacements: 16 Emma Croker (Richmond), 17 Sophie Hemming (Bristol), 18 Becky Essex (Richmond), 19 Sarah Beale (Lichfield), 20 La Toya Mason (Richmond), 21 Rachael Burford (Richmond), 22 Michaela Staniford (Wasps).

Australia: 15 Tricia Brown, 14 Kristy Giteau , 13 Sharni Williams, 12 Cheyenne Campbell, 11 Nicole Beck, 10 Tobie McGann, 9 Cheryl Soon (C), 1 Danielle Meskell, 2 Silei Poluleuligaga, 3 Lindsay Morgan, 4 Chris Ross, 5 Kate Porter, 6 Rebecca Trethowan, 7 Alex Hargreaves, 8 Debby Hodgkinson. Replacement: 16 Se'ei Sa'u, 17 Margaret Watson, 18 Rebecca Clough, 19 Shannon Parry, 20 Iliseva Batibasaga, 21 Cobie-Jane Morgan, 22 Ruan Sims.