Australia versus England was an American War of Independence battle: an 80-minute skirmish between British troops and American rebels with rehearsed yet unsuccessful cavalry charges and fierce Indian fighting mixed with inaccurate and often unnecessary cannon fire.

Put this one, a 12-10 England victory, down to the Empire and the Redcoats - or white jumpers, the uniform of a determined English side. The colonial troops, aka Australia, were an inept, often inert and largely ineffective rabble.

Although they scored the only try, Australia were beaten in every other aspect of the battle. Only the closeness of the contest kept it tense, and if the penalty goal attempt by Stirling Mortlock with two minutes left had been successful, the mother country would have been denied a just victory.

Still, in the first 10 minutes, England raised even more comparisons with 18th-century British foreign policy, which had a history of honourable failure. They squandered numerous scoring opportunities, inviting Australia back into the game.

As an international sporting contest, the standard was poor - except for the scrummaging of England, the defensive leadership of their five-eighth, Jonny Wilkinson, and the overall resolve of the Poms. They exploited all the Wallabies' weaknesses while exposing none of their own.

Some of Australia's frailties, such as a scrum which collapses like a souffle, are well known. Other deficiencies developed during the tournament, such as the desire to move the ball laterally to backs intent on a cavalry charge before winning ground with old-fashioned tomahawk thrusts.

It was a challenge beyond retiring coach John Connolly. "You've got to go forward before you can move the ball wide," Connolly said after the game. "But England stopped us going forward. They were phenomenal at the breakdown. There were times when our back line was set and I thought, 'Here it comes, here it comes'. But it was too late."

True, England were surprisingly aggressive at the breakdown - but when the ball did move to the cavalry, invariably there was a big, dumb footsoldier standing in the way of the dashing back-line steeds.

Following the humiliation by South Africa in their first group game, England played two tough knockout matches against Samoa and Tonga, hardening them for Saturday's clash. Those gave them resolve at the breakdown, which was reflected in their high rate of possession from turnovers.

All this was expected - Australia's limp scrummaging, a desperation to play laterally and England having found new steel after tough skirmishes against other colonies from the Pacific. But who could have anticipated another piece of flawed military strategy would enter Australia's play: returning cannon fire when the opposition troops feared a cavalry attack?

Australia's best chances came when they received the ball from high kicks in their own half. What would you expect of a talented set of backs that had been deprived of the ball for much of the game? To run it? Of course. But no - rather than use the possession they were having trouble gaining, the Wallabies kicked it straight back. Instead of looking downfield at the obvious English overlap nervously staring them back, Australia punted it straight down the centre.

Winger Lote Tuqiri appeared to want to sprint upfield and link with another back against a disorganised opposition, but Australia returned possession to England so often it appeared to be part of the game plan. This meant England's principal weakness - an inability to scramble in defence - was rarely tested.

There were a couple of occasions at the end when England found that second effort in defence - but, hey, if you've laboured for 78 minutes to achieve an improbable victory, surely you can scramble for the last two minutes.

Australia clearly did not take notice of the way Tonga ran the ball hard and tested England's fragile defence. In fact, they seemed almost as relieved as England when the men with water bottles ran on after the standard fat man collapsed seeking first aid.

The battle had too many stoppages, another similarity with 18th-century British warfare, when hostilities halted for officers to attend garden parties and colonial soldiers to plough their fields. But credit should be given an England team that now plays France in a semi-final in Paris.

Skipper Phil Vickery said: "We are all proud Englishmen who want to represent our country to the best of our ability."

England's most famous admiral, Horatio Nelson, said something similar. After England lost the American War of Independence, Nelson pulled off a victory over the French at Trafalgar, reminding his troops: "England expects every man to do his duty."