No typhoons this week, just a gathering English storm. Whether it will be enough to propel Eddie Jones’s side all the way to World Cup glory remains to be seen but Australia could not withstand their second-half surge in this eventful quarter-final. For the first time since 2007 England are into the last four and Saturday’s smackdown with New Zealand will be some collision.

If the final margin was slightly harsh on a spirited Wallaby side it was hard-earned reward for England’s well-organised defence and the last-quarter power lurking on their bench. It took until the final quarter to establish clear forward-control but a rampaging 46th-minute score by tight-head Kyle Sinckler had already pushed Australia towards their earliest World Cup exit for a dozen years.

‘We’ve not played our best’: England can improve, Eddie Jones tells New Zealand Read more

If you had offered Eddie Jones a 24-point margin of victory against his homeland prior to the start he would have snatched your arm off above the elbow. The fact it was achieved with 36% of the ball and similar territory stats underlines the reality of modern-day rugby: possession is all very well but taking your chances when they arise is what really counts.

In that regard Australia’s 18 turnovers were a costly case of self-harm. So, too, were the two interception tries that ultimately wrecked any chance of Michael Cheika’s side ending their recent grim sequence against the Poms. This was Jones’s seventh successive win over his old Randwick teammate and, with the Cheika era drawing to a close, there can be no disputing the runaway winner of their personal duel.

It was certainly a painful way for two great Wallaby servants, David Pocock and Will Genia, to go out. They can still bask in Australia’s 33-13 victory over their old rivals at the 2015 World Cup but that golden glow is now a fading memory. Only one of these two teams currently appears to be on an upward curve.

Jones could still do with Jonny May, the scorer of the first two of England’s four tries, recovering swiftly from an apparent hamstring tweak but in Sinckler and his young flankers, Tom Curry and Sam Underhill, the coach has some steadily improving individuals. Anthony Watson’s late interception and Owen Farrell’s 100% kicking contribution also helped scupper the Wallabies, despite the promise of their exciting new centre Jordan Petaia and the roadrunner pace of winger Marika Koroibete.

A one-sided outcome, however, did not always look an inevitability. Australia had looked the brighter side initially, probing for gaps in England’s defensive spacing and taking an early lead via Christian Lealiifano’s first successful penalty. Their opponents took a while to make any kind of consistent front-foot impression before May’s double whammy inside four minutes banished their jangling nerves.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Kyle Sinckler runs through to score a critical try early in the second half after Australia had closed to within one point. Photograph: Gabriel Bouys/AFP via Getty Images

The first was the product of a destructive hard line down the middle by Manu Tuilagi, which sucked in the Australian defence and stretched the cover further out, allowing Farrell and Curry to put May over in the left corner. The Wallabies needed to strike back immediately but, instead, Pocock’s attempted pass to Lealiifano was intercepted by Henry Slade whose chip ahead with his supposedly weaker right foot gave May another chance to show his searing pace.

Farrell’s second touchline conversion deepened the pain and left Australia to play catch-up rugby, precisely the scenario they had been anxious to avoid. To their credit Cheika’s side did not panic, attacking with verve and using purposeful pick-and-go tactics to try and fluster England. In terms of the scoreboard it yielded only a couple more penalties for Lealiifano to one from Farrell but at no stage could England entirely relax.

Quick guide Sinckler's big match Show Hide 4 mins After being penalised for early engagement at the first scrum, Sinckler receives several provocative pats on the head from laughing Aussie hooker Tolu Latu. The Wallabies clearly fancy Sinckler as a red-card candidate, and he looks rattled before England lock Maro Itoje pushes Latu away. Speaking on ITV, Sir Clive Woodward says: “In days of old, that could have all kicked off there. But Sinckler just turns away, and that is fantastic - he kept a cool head.” 38 mins After one scrum engagement, Sinckler is seen roaring in the direction of Romain Poite, far away on the other side of the pitch, because the south Londoner thinks Scott Sio is dropping the bind. He’s a touch fortunate that referee Jérôme Garcès doesn’t intervene, and is penalised after the scrum is reset, Christian Lealiifano stroking over the penalty. 46 mins After Marika Koroibete’s electrifying score, the Wallabies are back to within a point. Sinckler, running a magnificent line, collects a fizzing pass from fly-half Owen Farrell and barrels over. “That’s the way the game is going, these young props can run with the ball,” coach Eddie Jones says. “He ran a beautiful line - and that try put us in control.” 60 mins The Wallabies come hard again, wave after wave of attacks raining down on a tiring defence. Isi Naisarani and Samu Kerevi drive to within a metre of the try line, but Sinckler does brilliantly to rip the ball away. England are relieved after a period of sustained pressure, and they go on to dominate the final quarter. In post-match analysis, former Australia scrum-half George Gregan adds more praise: “A tight-head prop scoring his first Test try in a World Cup, he’ll be pretty happy with that, won’t he? How far did he run, 50 metres?” “He ran it in from 1,500 metres,” quips ITV commentator and former prop David Flatman. Luke McLaughlin

Barely two minutes after the interval the margin was reduced to just a single point after Elliot Daly, under a bit of pressure, knocked on 40 metres from his own line and gave the Wallabies a broken field to play with. Slick use of the resulting turnover ball gave Koroibete the space to burn off Daly, only the third try England have so far conceded in this tournament.

Australia’s second-half record against England, however, has been dreadful lately and the same achilles heel duly presented itself. The Wallaby defence was too easily spilt by Farrell’s snappy midfield miss-pass, allowing a beaming Sinckler to storm untouched through the unguarded heart of the defence. The Harlequins front-rower used to be a fly-half in his youth but this was the stuff of any prop forward’s dreams.

Sinckler was also responsible for a crucial defensive rip as Australia pressed for another score before Watson’s final intervention and Farrell’s fourth conversion took England into 40-point territory. There have been more conveniently situated stadiums in World Cup history – exactly how and why two of rugby’s showpiece games ended up in this relatively obscure Japanese city remains a good question – but England will for ever remember their visit to this striking dome.

Jones, his selection reshuffle fully vindicated, also reckons Japan’s illustrious old warriors would approve of how his team are playing. “The best samurais were always the guys who had a plan they could adapt. They had calm heads but were full of aggression. I thought we were like that today but there’s always a better samurai around the corner.”

Dressed all in black, in this case, and capable of asking more serious questions than England ultimately had to face here.

Australia's pain self-inflicted in Rugby World Cup loss to England Read more