Junior World Championship play-off wrap

New Zealand booked their place in the inaugural IRB Junior World Championship Final with a convincing 31-6 win over hosts Wales in Newport on Wednesday.

New Zealand booked their place in the inaugural IRB Junior World Championship Final with a convincing 31-6 win over hosts Wales in Newport on Wednesday.

The Baby All Blacks will meet England in the final after England disposed of South Africa 26-18 in a thriller in Cardiff.

Elsewhere, Australia overcame the disappointment of their defeat to England in the pool matches with a 32-0 win over Samoa, Fiji just scraped past the USA, and Scotland needed extra time to see off Canada.

Wales 6-31 New Zealand

Backed by a typically partisan crowd at a rain-lashed Rodney Parade, host nation Wales gave it their all in the first semi-final, but New Zealand had simply too much in the locker and produced a professional second-half display to clinch a 31-6 win and march into Sunday's final.

New Zealand had averaged just over 57 points in their Pool A games leading into this match at Rodney Parade in Newport, but were made to scrap for every single point by a Wales side who, led by the magnificent Jonathan Davies in the centre, put their bodies on the line in defence.

However, the home side could not maintain that level of intensity for 80 minutes and New Zealand took enough of a grip in the second half to close out the game and set up a final against either England or South Africa.

Wales tore into New Zealand from the off and the men in black looked visibly rocked, so when Leigh Halfpenny, the Welsh hero with his last gasp match-winning try against France to earn this semi-final, slotted a sixth-minute penalty it was no more than his side deserved.

Understandably given the wet conditions, New Zealand responded by keeping it tight although it was a finely-measured cross-kick from full-back Trent Renata that unlocked the Welsh defence for hooker Quentin MacDonald to gather and score two minutes later.

A catch and drive on the half hour resulted in the second try for New Zealand through prop Paea Fa'anunu, but a second penalty for wing Halfpenny kept Wales in touch at half-time, trailing only 10-6.

Renata inspired New Zealand in the second half with conditions worsening as he found good distance with his line kicking and slotted two valuable penalties to extend the lead to 16-6.

But the critical blow came on the hour as centre Ryan Crotty scooped up a loose Welsh kick ahead and linked with wing Sean Maitland before putting number eight Nasi Manu into the corner.

Wales, watched by national coach Warren Gatland, refused to cave in against an increasingly powerful black tide, but a third penalty from Renata moved New Zealand further clear and the full-back then converted Maitland's late try to complete the scoring.

The scorers:

For Wales:
Pens: Halfpenny 2

For New Zealand:
Tries: MacDonald, Fa'anunu, Manu, Maitland
Con: Renata
Pens: Renata 3

New Zealand: 15 Trent Renata, 14 Zac Guildford, 13 Kade Poki, 12 Ryan Crotty, 11 Sean Maitland, 10 Daniel Kirkpatrick, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Nasi Manu, 7 Luke Braid,6 Mathew Luamanu, 5 Sam Whitelock,4 Chris Smith, 3 Ben Afeaki, 2 Quentin MacDonald,1 Paea Fa'anunu.
Replacements: 16 Ash Dixon, 17 Toby Smith,18 Josh Townsend, 19 Peter Saili, 20 Grayson Hart, 21 Jackson Willison, 22 Andre Taylor.

Wales: 15 Daniel Evans, 14 Leigh Halfpenny, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Gareth Owen, 11 Jimmy Norris, 10 Daniel Biggar, 9 Rhys Webb, 8 Sam Warburton (c), 7 Dan Franks, 6 Justin Tipuric, 5 Josh Turnbull, 4 Haydn Pugh, 3 Scott Andrews, 2 Ryan Prosser, 1 Ryan Bevington.
Replacements: 16 Ben Roberts, 17 Sam Hobbs, 18 Patrick Palmer, 19 Lloyd Phillips, 20 Ashley Sweet, 21 Gareth Williams, 22 Luke Ford.

Referee: Romain Poite France
Touch judges: Philip Bosch (South Africa), Robin Goodliffe (England)

England 26-18 South Africa

England squeezed past the challenge of South Africa in the pouring rain to triumph 26-18 and book their place against New Zealand in Swansea on Sunday.

They led by just three points going into injury time, but prop Alex Corbisiero went over from a line-out drive to make certain of victory against a South African side that had challenged them all the way.

Scrum-half Joe Simpson had a Man-of-the-Match performance at the base of their effective pack, but the South Africans made it a mighty close contest and even had a chance to draw level in the dying minutes, but fly-half Francois Brummer pulled his penalty attempt wide to the right.

Simpson had earlier opened the scoring with an opportunistic try in the fifth minute, breaking round the fringes of a ruck 20 yards out to touch down with fly-half Alex Goode kicking the conversion.

The South Africans cut the deficit with a Brummer penalty and then as the game entered the second quarter took the lead with two tries in three minutes.

First the England defence failed to deal with a kick into the 22 which bounced back into the hands of wing Cecil Afrika, who passed to his captain Gerrit Jan van Velze for the score.

Then Goode had a kick charged down in the middle of the pitch and Afrika was first to the loose ball to sprint 40 yards to the line. Brummer converted the second, but maintaining the period of loose play, England drew level at 15-15 when wing Noah Cato intercepted on half-way and sprinted clear to touch down.

Goode nosed England ahead at the start of the second half with another penalty and his side's forwards were able to maintain the pressure by keeping their opponents penned in their own half for long periods.

That pressure paid off as Goode extended the lead with another penalty, this time from a wide angle near the touchline with 11 minutes remaining, but South Africa again pegged England back to just three points with a Brummer penalty to set up a thrilling finale.

Brummer had a kick to level the match, but his 50-yard kick was both wide and short. With the wind at their backs, England played a territory game to close the semi-final out with Corbisiero easing any nerves in injury-time.

The scorers:

For England:
Tries: Simpson, Cato, Corbisiero
Con: Goode
Pens: Goode 3

For South Africa:
Tries: Van Velze, Afrika
Con: Brummer
Pens: Brumer 2

Samoa 0-32 Australia

Australia secured their place in the fifth place play-off against France with a consummate victory over Samoa at the Liberty Stadium in Swansea.

With the wind and rain making life difficult for both sides, it was far from a classic encounter. However, Australia had too much power and know-how to allow the Samoans to build on their impressive displays in the pool stages of the competition.

Fly half Quade Cooper handed Australia the lead after five minutes with a penalty from 15 metres and four minutes later his side drove a line-out to within a metre of the line before the Samoans were penalised again.

Cooper struck an upright from 20 metres with the resultant penalty to enable