The Australian women meet Canada at Ashton Gate Stadium in Bristol on Sunday morning (1am AEST), with a final-four spot up for grabs.
They last reached the semi-finals in 2010, also played in England, where they suffered a 10-0 loss to the hosts and went on to win the third-place playoff against France.
While the Canadians struggle on the world stage in the men's game, their women are a powerhouse outfit currently ranked No.2, above reigning champions New Zealand.
The Wallaroos haven't beaten Canada in seven meetings, losing their most recent clash this year in Brisbane 45-7.
But winger Desiree Miller, who scored a hat-trick in their tournament-opening win over Samoa, says the Wallaroos are taking a "why not" approach to their match.
"The last two weeks have been 'why not'; we're in such an exciting position and we really want to take this team further," the 23-year-old said.
"We've been previewing Canada and figuring out what we can do to combat their strengths and expose their weaknesses.
"I remember the whole team feeling pretty disappointed after versing Canada - the game started to blow out and we made a lot of mistakes, so that's something we've reflected on.
"It's great that we got to come up against them as it's given us a real taste of what it's going to be like, but World Cup is a different beast and anything can happen.
"We've come so far as a team and I think we're going to put on a really good show."
Just as the Wallabies are starting to win back supporters after a lean decade, the Wallaroos also want to make a dent on the Australian sports fans' psyche.
Australia will host the next women's World Cup in four years' time, with Miller hoping they can follow the lead of the Matildas.
The women's soccer team were the pride of the nation in their World Cup semi-final run two years ago on home soil.
Women's rugby has been growing in popularity, with more than 375,000 tickets sold across all 32 games, and the final at Twickenham already an 82,000-strong sellout, making it the most-attended women's match in history.
"I think we're in a really unique and precious position in Australia,'' Miller said.
"We had the '23 FIFA World Cup … it really propelled a lot of the support and eyes on women's sport, which is exactly where we're heading and we wanted to head.
"Hopefully, over the next four years, we can build a really strong foundation and have the same ripple effect that the Matildas have, that England's having on ... women's rugby around the world.
"Hopefully we can carry on that legacy and it just goes onwards and upwards from here."
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