The stage is set for a mouth-watering contest between Wallabies stars David Pocock, Michael Hooper and Scott Fardy and New Zealand's combination led by legend Richie McCaw, Jerome Kaino and Kieran Reid.

But the Pocock, Hooper and Fardy combo can lay claim to teaming up in the only Australian side that has beaten the All Blacks in the past 12 matches between the trans-Tasman rivals.

The Wallabies will clash against the All Blacks in the World Cup final after they held on for a tense 29-15 semi-final triumph against Argentina on Sunday (Monday morning AEDT). They owe a lot of that victory to the mountain of work their back-row got through, combining for 39 tackles and spilling plenty of blood in a physical contest.

Pocock had blood pouring from his nose and smeared across his face while Fardy was opened up from a cut on his head, but both continued to put their heads down for the Wallabies. That's nothing compared to what they face against defending world champions New Zealand. McCaw is one of the greatest All Blacks of all time, Read is a former world player of the year and Kaino is the enforcer.

Australia have beaten the All Blacks just once in the past four years, and that win came when Pocock, Fardy and Hooper were together. "You always want to play against the best," Pocock said. "It's been very cliched but our approach has been to focus on the game in front of us. We'll enjoy tonight and start thinking about all those things tomorrow. Fards is a bloke who just gets on with it, gets through a huge amount of work. He goes about his business, gets around the field well. I really enjoy playing alongside him.

"And obviously it was Hoops' 50th Test and he was great tonight as well. That's pleasing and something to build on."

All the post-match credit was centred around three-try hero Adam Ashley-Cooper and the superb run from Drew Mitchell to set up the last try. But the immense work of the back-row laid the foundation for success and Pocock and Fardy have the battle scars to prove it after a brutal contest.

Pocock was making his comeback from a calf injury after missing the quarter-final against Scotland, while late Wallabies bloomer Fardy is making the most of his first World Cup at the age of 31.

Hooper is the young buck of the group and together they form a lethal trio that will face its biggest test against the All Blacks. The All Blacks will be waiting, having been ambushed by their combination in the Wallabies' win in the first Bledisloe Cup in August.

"It was a good shift by those lads ... I think they work really hard for the team and what they're getting better at is picking the moments to go," said Wallabies coach Michael Cheika.

"Fardy came up and gave a few nice hits from outside to in. For David as well tonight, and Michael's 50th cap, I thought he was excellent. David off the back of his injury, playing a full 80 minutes was a great effort."

Fardy is sometimes the forgotten man in the Wallabies' back-row because both Hooper and Pocock are former Test captains. But he was outstanding in defence and forced two breakdown turnovers to go with Pocock's four pilfers.

Pocock's presence was in doubt early in the week as he battled to overcome his calf problem, but he said he got through the match unscathed and was ready to launch into the final.

"It's [the injury] a frustrating thing to happen but it's all just part of it. I'm very happy to be back and to have a win," Pocock said.

"There's a few pretty sore guys walking around. We'll recover really well tonight and tomorrow we'll get into all the reviews and previews and all the rest, and get into the week. It's a short turnaround. But how exciting, we're very happy with tonight."