The Wallaroos have recorded their best ever finish at a women's rugby World Cup after beating France 22-8 to claim third place at Twickenham Stoop in London on Sunday (Monday AM AEST).

England, who knocked Australia out of the race for the title, were unable to stop a dominant Black Ferns side in the final as New Zealand went on to claim a fourth-straight crown with a 13-10 victory.

Wallaroos centre Cobie-Jane Morgan ran in two of Australia's four first-half tries while flanker Rebecca Trethowan and fullback Tricia Brown also broke through the French defence to score in the opening 40 minutes.

Australia went to the break with a 22-3 lead and that scoreline remained until six minutes from time when the French capitalised on some tiring Wallaroos defence to drag one back though replacement Manol Andre.

Wallaroos captain Cheryl Soon, appearing in her third World Cup, said she was particularly proud of her teams performance.

"We came here and we made history," Soon said.

"After our loss against England our goal was to finish third and we achieved that so I'm very pleased with the result.

"We've improved Australia's world ranking and have automatically qualified for the next World Cup too so that's great."

Try scorer Morgan echoed her captain's sentiments.

"Fourth wasn't enough for us today, we just had to go out there and win," Morgan said.

"We have girls in our team who have felt what it's like to win a World Cup and I think their leadership, for us young ones, really showed us the way and helped us perform."

Wallaroos winger Nicole Beck, whose bone crunching hit in the semi-finals made highlight reels around the globe, finished the tournament with 30 points but was unable to beat New Zealand's Carla Hohepa to being named the IRB Women's Personality of the Year.

Australia had previously finished seventh in 2006 and fifth in their other two World Cup appearances.

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP