Irish eyes smiling after win to finish

IRELAND shook off the loss of playmaker Joe Keyes to wrap up their Rugby League World Cup with a 34-6 win over Wales in Perth.

The Irish lost their No.6 to a knee injury midway through the first half yesterday but did enough to record their second victory of the tournament.

Despite the win, the Irish failed to qualify for the quarterfinals, after finishing second behind Papua New Guinea in Group C.

Keyes suffered a suspected medial ligament strain, prompting a reshuffle with Api Pewhairangi shifted into the halves. Oliver Roberts, who came on for Keyes, made an immediate impact as he barged over for a try in the 31st minute to make it 12-0.

After Josh Ralph threw a beautiful cut-out pass to set up Ben Morris, Wales suddenly gave themselves a sniff at 22-6 with 20 minutes remaining.

However the Welsh fightback was short-lived as Roberts forced his way over from dummy-half for a soft try in the 68th minute.

The victory was Ireland’s biggest in a world cup surpassing their 36-12 victory over Italy two weeks ago.