England coach John Mitchell had questioned before this game whether Australia, who would make the quarter-finals either by avoiding a thrashing or by picking up a bonus point, would attempt to kick and contain or run and attack.
In the opening 30 minutes, they did both. And outplayed the hosts in the process.
England flunked their first two set-pieces, with Rosie Galligan spilling a line-out and Botterman going to ground at the scrum to give away a penalty.
Meanwhile, Australia fly-half Faitala Moleka found turf between the hosts’ back three with clever kicks and her forwards cantered into contact, refusing to be cowed by the Red Roses’ record or reputation.
Wallaroos hooker Adiana Talakai burrowed over at the back of a sixth-minute driven lineout to ensure that early superiority showed on the scoreboard.
Wing Jess Breach, winning her 50th cap, scampered in shortly after from Zoe Harrison’s over-the-top miss pass to cut Australia’s lead to 7-5, but England’s discipline and drills remained scrappy.
Abbie Ward was pinged for a needless offside and the line-out misfired, with three going astray in the first half. When England did safely gather, Australia were able to shove a spanner in the spokes of their usually powerful driving maul.
Amy Cokayne found herself at the back of one maul that did motor over the line, only to lose the ball as she attempted to ground.
Botterman, one of England’s most impressive performers so far in the tournament, was forced off shortly after.
It couldn’t get much worse for England.
And it didn’t. After 32 minutes, Ward put England in front for the first time, finally overwhelming some gritty Australian goalline defence to make it 12-7.
Kabeya followed her over just before half-time as England went to the rolling maul once more and finally made one stick.
A 19-7 half-time lead was flattering, however. Australia had enjoyed 63% possession, and England had had to make 69 more tackles than their opponents.
The prospect of an upset from 80-1 outsiders Australia evaporated within five minutes of the restart as Natasha Hunt smartly kicked ahead a loose ball and popped the ball up for Kabeya to score her second try.
Kildunne departed soon after and, although she returned to watch the remainder of the match from the bench, she offered an uneasy smile when shown on the big screen.
Two short-range tries from Clifford, while Australia were reduced to 14 by Moleka’s yellow card, moved England 40-7 clear and out of sight.
With Australia well inside the 75-point margin of defeat that would imperil their place in the last eight, the main point of interest in the final quarter was a rejigged England backline, with Holly Aitchison coming off the bench to replace Tatyana Heard and operate in tandem with Zoe Harrison.
That experiment was slightly spoiled by a yellow card for Sarah Bern, shortly after she put the seal on the try-scoring, that reduced England to 14 for the final 10 minutes.
However, Helena Rowland put in an excellent cameo in place of Kildunne, proving enterprising in attack and making an excellent tackle when up against the pace of wing Maya Stewart.
Australia will take on Canada, the side ranked second in the world, in the quarter-finals next Saturday in Bristol.
