The Ferns will meet the winner of this afternoon's showdown between Australia and Jamaica in tomorrow's finale.
Heading into the tournament many had the Ferns pegged for the bronze medal match, with England picking an experienced line-up who were confident of breaking into the final of a major tournament for the first time. But the English never really fired a shot in this tournament, and were outgunned by a more clinical Ferns side today.
The Roses have only beat New Zealand on four occasions - the most recent being in October last year, capping off a horror season for the Ferns.
Both sides have made several changes to their line-up since that meeting. The English have gone back to the future, bringing veteran Sonia Mkoloma, Tamsin Greenway and Pamela Cookey back in the fold.
New Zealand meanwhile were forced to take a punt on several relative rookies, including Malia Paseka, Phoenix Karaka, Bailey Mes and Grace Rasmusssen, who are all featuring in their first World Cup.
The new-look attack end has done the job for the Ferns so far in the tournament and were particularly impressive in their shock win over Australia during pool play.
But today was the first time they had to stand up in a must-win situation. Despite a few shaky moments early on, the team stood up to the pressure, with Tutaia again the leading scorer in the match landing 35 of her 42 attempts - many from long range. Kayla Cullen was also impressive in the wing defence bib, coming up with several handy steals.
The Silver Ferns stuck with the same starting seven that took the court against Australia and Jamaica earlier in their tournament. The team started with the same confidence they displayed in their earlier hit-outs, producing a near perfect opening few minutes, converting their first two turnovers to take an early 4-0 lead.
But it soon got ragged. England had clearly done their homework on the New Zealand attack, with Serena Guthrie doing a good job of shutting down key pivot Grace Rasmussen, putting a lot of pressure on Laura Langman to deliver the ball into the shooting circle.
The England attack struggled to make the most of the turnover ball being generated by their defensive work, with young shooter Helen Housby looking jittery in what was the biggest game of her career.
With both sides making a string of errors, the scoreline remained fixed at 4-3 for more than two minutes, before Tutaia finally broke the drought with 7.56 remaining in the first spell. The graceful shooter settled the attack over the latter stages of the opening spell, helping the Ferns out to an 11-5 lead at the first break after an incredibly low-scoring start to the match.
The poor start from the English shooters forced the coach Tracey Neville to go to her bench early, bringing on Cookey to try and get the attack end moving. The veteran shooter made a noticeable impact, splitting defenders Casey Kopua and Katrina Grant to open up space in the England shooting circle.
By halftime England had pegged the difference back to four goals as the Ferns began to show a few nerves towards the end of the spell.
A more composed New Zealand line-up returned after the break, opening with a 6-2 blitz, in what proved to be the decisive period of the match. Looking to halt New Zealand's momentum, England called an injury time-out.
But it had little effect with Tutaia firing in the shots at will to put the Ferns out to a 10-goal lead at the final change of ends.
