ENGLAND will play defending champions and host nation Australia in the World Cup final at Telstra Stadium on Saturday after Jonny Wilkinson's mighty left boot struck gold.
Wilkinson kicked all of England's points - five penalties and three drop goals - despite horrendous conditions that made his job doubly difficult and some equally horrendous flak he had been taking as his ability was put under question.
French flanker Serge Betsen scored the semi-final's only try, but England had greater control up front when it really mattered.
And in Wilkinson, they possessed a priceless match-winner, who passed 800 points for his country in the process.
It was not pretty - the weather dictated that - yet England can now look forward to their first World Cup final appearance for 12 years.
And on that occasion in 1991 they also met Australia, going down to a 12-6 defeat at Twickenham.
England though beat the Wallabies Down Under just five months ago, and they will fancy their chances of emulating the country's 1966 world champion soccer heroes.
There were no tries for England, but they had hard-working heroes all over the pitch, from Wilkinson to flanker Richard Hill, in his first match for a month, scrum-half Matt Dawson and back-row ace Neil Back.
Telstra Stadium resembled more Twickenham than windy Sydney, with an estimated 30,000 English fans making their voices heard.
A prolonged storm two hours before kick-off threatened to make conditions treacherous, but the rain eased by kickoff and despite a gusting wind, both teams settled well.
England number eight Lawrence Dallaglio was in tears during the anthems, which provided graphic confirmation of just how much the game meant to John-son's troops.
Early flurries were inevitably lively, as both front-rows got involved in a skirmish which resulted in a bloodied England prop Phil Vickery going off.
Vickery's brief departure gave temporary replacement Jason Leonard his 112th cap, breaking Frenchman Philippe Sella's world Test appearance record in the Harlequins forward's 14th year of international rugby.
Wilkinson booted England ahead with a ninth-minute drop-goal from 20 metres, yet the lead was short-lived as France responded superbly.
Betsen broke from a line-out on England's 22, and the red rose defence was slow to respond.
Wing Jason Robinson and Hill both desperately tried to stop his momentum, but after a lengthy delay while referee Paddy O'Brien consulted video official Andrew Cole, the try was awarded.
Fly-half Frederic Michalak slotted the touchline conversion with ease and England found themselves 7-3 adrift after 10 minutes.
England launched their first menacing attack on 24 minutes, and it ended in controversial fashion after Robinson was sent scampering clear by Catt.
Dominici floored the Sale Sharks speedster, but only through a blatantly illegal trip. O'Brien sin-binned Dominici, who was hurt after making contact with Robinson and limped off.
A steepling Wilkinson kick put France under pressure and they fell offside after fumbling possession, allowing Wilkinson a penalty chance that he gratefully accepted from 30 metres.
Conditions grew increasingly difficult as the first half drew to a close, with the playing surface resembling a skating rink in places.
England threatened in the closing minutes, with Back sprinting into the French 22, and impressive link work between Hill and Dawson almost found a way through.
But Wilkinson came up trumps with his second drop-goal and the Six Nations champions established a 9-7 lead, before a penalty on the stroke of half-time increased that advantage to five points.
Wilkinson and Michalak both missed penalty kicks in the opening six minutes of the second half, but the weather had long since reduced proceedings to a survival of the fittest.
Wilkinson sent another penalty wide on 49 minutes - his third miss - yet given the atrocious weather, it was almost excusable.
Just when France needed to establish some control though, they were undone by the poor discipline of Betsen.
His reckless late lunge on Wilkinson, after England's fly-half had cleared possession, resulted in a penalty that the Newcastle number 10 comfortably landed.
And there was better to come from the imperious Wilkinson, after further pressure resulted in him moving to the right and then cutting back to the left and completing a hat-trick of drop-goals.
It put England 18-7 in front, before 63rd and 72nd-minute penalties took England out of sight and into the final.
