Semi-finals roundup

FOUR tries from Portia Woodman and another masterclass of attacking rugby from New Zealand saw the Black Ferns reach their fifth World Cup final after a pulsating semi-final against USA at Kingspan Stadium on Tuesday

The Kiwis didn’t have it their own way in the first half as the plucky Americans, who had made it through to the last four as best runners up, played with nothing to lose and trailed only 15-7 at the break.

But five tries in the second half saw New Zealand home to set up the expected final at the start of the tournament against England.

Wales went into the third week of the tournament hoping to finish fifth but a thumping at the hands of Canada quashed Rowland Phillips’ side.

After a dogged defensive display against the Canadians in the pool stage – they went down fighting in a 15-0 loss in Dublin – Wales were unable to contain the North Americans yesterday in Belfast, conceding seven tries for a final score of 52-0.

“We never got any foothold in this second game,” remarked Phillips. “We knew they were going to come at us hard, because they did that last time. We also knew they were going to be very direct.

“We didn’t have that same intensity in our hits, and they definitely ran harder, so we lost the collision – whereas in the last game we were probably even in that regard. This was also evident when we were taking the ball into contact. We didn’t manage to put a dent in their defensive line like we did a week or so ago.”

Ireland managed to hold on for a 19-17 win over Australia in the pool stages but they lost the physical battle this time going down 36-24.

At the bottom of the table, a strong second-half display and three tries saw Italy claim a 22-0 win over Japan who paid the price for failing to turn firsthalf pressure into points.

In the last game of the day, Spain controlled matters to overcome Hong Kong 31-7 and set up the ninth place play-off against the Azzurri.