Wales 42(Rob Worrincy 2, Gareth David, Grant Epton, Jason Mossop, Owen Lewis, Daniel Wright tries; Gareth David 7 goals)

France 6(Frederic Marcerou try and goal)

Wales qualified for the Student World Cup semi-finals on Saturday after hammering France 42-6 in Queensland, Australia.

It was another spirited effort from France, but they again struggled in holding out a much larger opposition, and they now turn their attentions in salvaging some pride in Tuesday’s Plate semi-final against Scotland.

The Welsh obviously enjoyed the perfect Gold Coast conditions, piling on five second half tries to finish second in their pool and book a semi-final showdown with Australia in Brisbane on Wednesday night.

Wales were always in complete control of proceedings, turning a slight 14-6 half-time advantage into a seven try romp, with fullback Gareth David scoring a try and booting seven goals in an all-round flashy performance.

Sheffield Eagles professional Rob Worrincy was Wales’ other star man with a brace of tries, former Celtic Crusaders wingman Grant Epton also grounded as did current Crusader Owen Lewis. Workington Town’s Jason Mossop also scored, as did Daniel Wright.

Australia 54 (Drew Dalton 2, Jonathon Crawley, Jason Gangaram, Josh Whitty, Brogan Gibson, Brenton Stonier, Eugene Seddon, Nuku Hifo, Justin Volkner tries; Drew Dalton 3, Gavin Duncan 3, Eugene Seddon goals)

Greece 0

Wales’ opponents on Wednesday qualified as Group A leaders in convincing fashion as they hammered Greece 54-0 bringing their group tally to a whopping 136 points in three matches without conceding any. 

The win came on the back of a star performance from Co-captain Drew Dalton who finished the match with a personal tally of 14 points.

Half-back Brogan Gibson opened the scoring for the Aussies when he crossed under the posts in the fourth minute of the match.

The next 20 minutes of the match were in

the balance as Greece showed the spirit which has made them a crowd favourite over the past week, but two late first half tries to Drew Dalton gave the home side an 18-0 lead heading into the break.

The second half started much the way that the first half ended, with inspirational lock Nuku Hifo scoring in the 40th minute.

The next 30 minutes resulted in a steady flow of points with tries to captain Jonathon Crawley, Jason Gangaram, Josh Whitty, Eugene Seddon and Justin Volker.

England 32 (Dave Saxon 2, Craig Cornelia, Sam Gee, Dawny Inman, Chris Clarke tries; Mark McKinley 3, Danny Sarside goals)

Scotland 0

 England played their best game of the tournament so far to qualify for the semi-finals as they easily accounting for Scotland, 32-0.

A duo of tries to prop forward Dave Saxon helped the English to an impressive win in a match which saw players from both sides sinbinned for fighting.

The big English forwards were too mobile for Scotland in what was an encouraging match for England who will now face New Zealand on Wednesday.

New Zealand 32(Mahana Toka 2, James Roughan, Rema Smith, Paul Atkins, Laupepa Pasene tries; Scott Hurrell 4 goals)

Ireland 10(Bernard Westman, Paddy Barcoe tries; Greg Mannion goal)

A late surge from New Zealand saw them register a spiteful 32-10 victory over a plucky Irish outfit in the second Pool B fixture, with their six tries to two victory securing them a semi-final showdown with England on Wednesday night.

The Kiwis failed to match the intensity of the boys from Ireland for the majority of the match, with Ireland failing to capitalise on their early opportunities to trail 4-12 at the half-time break.

 It took the injection of rampaging New Zealand forward Karerua Savage to spark the defending champions into action, with the elusiveness of reserve fullback Tasi Cordtz setting up the Kiwis hard fought victory.