Wales were outclassed by Australia to miss out on a place in the Under 21 Rugby Union World Cup final.

Australia ran in five tries to Wales's one in their 43-7 semi-final victory.

Byt there was a major upset in the other semi-final when South Africa edged home 19-18 against favourites New Zealand thanks to a last-minute penalty.

In a play-off game, Eoghan Hickey kicked Ireland to a surprise 28-15 win over England.

South Africa 19 New Zealand 18

In a pulsating final 20 minutes and in front of a huge crowd, Francois Swart kicked an angled penalty to give South Africa a one point win, beating the New Zealand Colts 19-18.

Swart had seen how his earlier drop-kick had been charged down and New Zealand scored on the other end of the field. Yet, he picked himself up and with his seventh kick of the night, of which he got five, added the three points that put his side in the IRB 1st U21 World Cup final.

The Bokkies worked very hard for their win, and held a 16-6 lead in the second half, even allowing themselves the luxury of squandering three good try scoring opportunities. Their first half try was after Juan Smith charged a kick and scored from it.

With territorial advantage and possession for most of the game, they still allowed New Zealand to came back at them in the final quarter.

A charged down kick led to the Kiwis first try, with Shaun Webb scoring. Soon, Swart's dropkick was also charged down and a second try scored after good inter-passing, with replacement flyhalf Luke McAllister crossing for the five pointer.

With New Zealand in the lead for the first time (18-16), South Africa did not surrender and positioned themselves in the Kiwis half. Soon, two penalty opportunities came Swart's way - the first from 50 metres was short, the second, from closer range, dissected the poles and gave the home side a huge win in the, so far, most exciting game of the tournament at the RAU Stadium.

Clyde Rathbone, the delighted captain, said: "We knew it would be a close game, our match plan was to keep them in the corners and put them under pressure. They came strongly back at us in the second half, but I knew when we got that final chance that Francois would do it. I've seen him do it a number of times in the past."

"We are looking forward to Australia in the final; we prepared well for this game and we will continue doing so for this last hurdle. Let's hope the people of South Africa support us...we need it."

Australia 43 Wales 7

Australia posted their intentions with a solid win against Wales in the first semi-final of the IRB U21 World Cup. Their domination was evident by looking at the try count, their five tries testimony to the quality of its game.

Wales fought hard, but it was always an uphill battle against a well-drilled side, however they managed a try, which was some compensation.

Centre Mark Gerrard opened the try-count after a great break from loose forward Jone Tawake. That set the tone of the game, with Australia creating holes in the centre of the field through power. Their backrow dominated throughout the game. This wasn't enough to satisfy the Australian management.

Team manager Ray McNicol said: "We are happy with the win, but we made too many errors. Our goal when leaving was to reach the final and that we've achieved, yet to win it we must improve on our game. I'd say we played at 85% of our capacity."

Wales was stronger in the scrums, and their only try came from a good scrum platform. In fact, two late tries by Australia gave the score-line a flattering look for the aspiring Wallabies.

Aussie captain Tamaiti Horua said: "This was our hardest game of the tournament and it will help us as we prepare for the final."

England 15 Ireland 28

Ireland secured the win against England in the opening 20 minutes when they crossed for two tries. After that, in the words of England coach Brian Ashton, "it was catch-up rugby."

Well lead by lock Matt McCullough, the Irish had the fighting power that coach (and former British Lion captain) Ciarian Fitzgerald was expecting of his troops.

"We came out wanting to take the game to them, and our early lead allowed us to play with more confidence."

England had to rely on try-scoring to keep the scores down. Lock Stuart Hooper managed a brace of tries, but "they counted for nothing. We wanted to win this game."

Ireland benefited from momentary lapses in the England defence to capitalise. They will play for 5th / 6th position against France.

Irish captain Matt McCullough said: "We are delighted with the win as it guarantees us at least sixth place which was our ranking coming into the tournament. Our defence was superb, it was something we worked very hard since our last game. France, our next opponents, are a very good team so we will have to continue working towards that game."

Argentina 17 France 29

France showed some of the quality rugby they are able to play in beating Argentina 29-17. They scored four tries against Argentina's three. They controlled the set pieces and their speed and continuity was too much for the Argentine's to cope with.

Argentine coach Fabian Turnes said: "France are a very good team and they played with cohesion and against teams of quality any mistakes proves costly"

The leadership of eightman Gregory Lamboley and the speed of halback Mathieu Siro were the clues to the French win. France will now aim to finish fifth, which will be two places under their original seeding.

They will now play Ireland, whom they beat 22-21 when they last met in this year's Six Nations.

Japan 25 Fiji 21

Only four points separated these two teams in what was an exciting game at the Bill Jardine Stadium. With each team scoring three tries apiece, the game was an open contest until the final minutes.

Fiji clearly dominated the first half, scoring three unanswered tries, with loosehead Lima Joji scoring the best try.

But Japan, who had managed a try almost on halftime, slowly managed to convert possession into points, scoring the final and game breaking try on the 77th minute.

Italy 23 Romania 22

When it seemed that Italy would squander a 17-point lead to Romania, they managed to clinch back the game with a Vittorio Mariuzzo penalty three minutes from fulltime.

Romania dominated for most of the second half, and scored three well taken tries in a ten-minute spree and were looking like winning this game. But an indiscretion at the breakdown gave Mariuzzo the goal kicking opportunity.

Italian number eight Sergio Parisse said: "We thought we might have lost it, but fortunately we managed to win the game. They were a very strong side and capitalised on our silly mistakes."

IRB U21 World Cup Semi-Final Results

Australia 43 Wales 7
Japan 25 Fiji 21
England 15 Ireland 28
Italy 23 Romania 22
Argentina 17 France 29
South Africa 19 New Zealand 18

IRB U21 World Cup Fixtures - Friday 28th June

(11th/12th Place) Fiji v Romania (Wits Univ. Stadium @ 11:00)
(9th/10th Place) Japan v Italy (Wits Univ. Stadium @ 13:00)
(7th/8th Place) England v Argentina (Ellis Park Stadium @ 11:00)
(5th/6th Place) Ireland v France (Ellis Park Stadium @ 13:00)
(3rd/4th Place) New Zealand v Wales (Ellis Park Stadium @ 15:00)
(1st/2nd Place) FINAL South Africa v Australia (Ellis Park Stadium @
17:15)