Rampant Kiwis put Ireland under pump

NEW Zealand secured top seed at the end of the pool stages by piling more misery on Ireland on Thursday with a 69-3 demolition in which Will Jordan and Caleb Clarke scored a hat-trick each.

Two of Will Jordan's tries came in the first half while Caleb Clarke also crossed twice, along with a touchdown from Braydon Ennor as Baby Blacks sealed 31 points at half time. Ireland's only points in the game came through a penalty from fly-half Conor Fitzgerald as they trailed by 28 points at the end of the first half.

Despite sin-bins to Isaia Walker-Leawere and Sam Caird, New Zealand crossed for six more tries in the second half.

Tom Christie, Ereatara Enari, Clarke and Josh McKay all got one try each while flyhalf Tiaan Falcon helped himself to a brace to go with his seven conversions.

Injuries proved costly for the Irish who lost their three pool games. Twelve months from reaching the final, they can now only finish ninth with a clash against Samoa lined-up on Tuesday.

Scotland held their nerve to seal a thrilling 17-16 win over Italy but it wasn’t enough to secure their place in the semi-finals as the best second.

Wing Robbie Nairn got Scotland off the mark with a sixth-minute try but four minutes later Italy responded with a touchdown from Marco Zanon and a conversion from Antonio Rizzi allowed them to claim a two-point lead.

Scotland looked relentless as Luke Crosbie went over to help his team reclaim a sevenpoint lead which was reduced to four at halftime following a penalty from Rizzi for the Italians.

Rizzi provided Italy with further momentum with two more penalties at the start of the second half as they claimed a four-point lead but Worcester No.8 Tom Dodd scored the decisive try for Scotland with 15 minutes to go.