A second-half display of wing wizardry by Mark Brown gave Wales a runaway victory over Scotland in the World Rugby Classic at National Sports Club last night.

The lanky Pontypool man ran in a hat-trick of tries as Wales won 38-14 and will be looking forward to a semifinal clash with England.

Until Brown took control it was a close game with Wales edging matters to stay ahead of the tough Scots.

It was 16 minutes into the first half before Anwell Davies put the first points on the scoreboard. John Reece lifted himself above the Scottish defence like a basketball player to pass out to Davies who scored and then took the conversion.

Six minutes later the ball was bundled out of a scrum in Scottish territory only for Llanelli centre Peter Hopkins to steal in and rush half the length of the pitch to score in the right corner.

The Scots were then given a taste of things to come when the ball travelled the full width of the pitch and into Mark Brown's hands. He rushed over the tryline but was adjudged to be out of play.

Scotland were fighting back with big Bill Cuthbertson, the Harlequins lock-forward running the show. And their persistence paid off when he crunched into the Welsh defence but managed to get the ball across for Jim Pollock to jog around the posts for five points. Full-back Peter Dodds hit the conversion.

Within five minutes of the second-half opening Wales increased their lead when they unleashed Brown on the unsuspecting Scots. It was a mistake between Pollock and Donald McDonald that let Brown in and he streaked away from the defenders to score, making Bleddyn Bowen's kicking task easy.

Scotland continued to push forward and won a line-out close to the Welsh line.

The ball fell loose and Ken McCauley leapt over to score. Dodds was again on target to make the score 19-14.

In the 45th minute of the game a rolling movement by the Welsh pushed the Scots back but the ball finally squeezed out for Brown and, once again, he easily outpaced the defence.

Almost immediately from the kick-off the ball was again kicked for Brown to chase but as he raced towards the line he was beaten to the ball by Dodds and both men ended up in touch.

He was a constant danger and in the 28th minute he caught the ball inside the touchline and walked in his third try, as the Scots waited for a whistle from the referee. Davies scored the conversion.

In the last minute the Welsh speed again confused the ragged Scottish defence and a great run by Bowen let in Peter Manning to score the final try with Baden Evans putting over the kick.

Australia 36, Ireland 10 An all-round demolition job on gutsy Ireland earned Australia a place in a World Rugby Classic semifinal against their fierce rivals New Zealand.

And it looks set to be a real classic on Sunday with the Kangaroos and the All Blacks already turning on the firepower for fans at the National Stadium.

New Zealand crushed Europe on Wednesday but the Australian team was much more impressive beating battling Ireland 36-10.

In fact it was Ireland's inability to deal with the early menace of Aussie full-back Gary Ella that probably cost them the game. Ella raced in for two first-half tries to rock the Irish back on their heels.

In the ninth minute, both sides were making handling errors but the Australians had stretched their backs and it was an easy job to get the ball out to Ella who plunged into the corner for his first.

Eight minutes later a terrific passing movement by half the members of the Green and Gold found the New South Wales man again and he strolled behind the posts, making an easy conversion for Tony Melrose.

Australia were in a deserved 12-0 lead but Ireland struck back minutes later when a mistake by the Australian defence let in Finbar Keanrey in the right-hand corner.

The Kangaroos almost replied immediately when Grant Batty flew down the wing, hurdling tackles for what looked a perfectly good try. But the Bermudian lines judge said he had stepped out of play.

That was forgotten when the resulting line-out produced a scrum and Dom Vaughan fed Brad Selby to slide through to make the half-time score 17-5.

Ireland were fired up for the second half and immediately forced a mistake out of Ella who misjudged a high kick.

And it was another kick that let in Paul Andreucetti minutes later for Ireland's second try following a mix-up in the middle.

Back came the Aussies with Selby finding himself faced with a pack of Irish forwards but still managing to get the ball to centre, Chris Paton to burst through and score. Melrose made sure of his second conversion.

In the 18th minute of the second half, Selby and Paton were again involved but this time it was Paton feeding as Selby almost ran the full length of the pitch before he was stopped by great Irish defending.

But the defence looked pedestrian as captain Melrose went through them to score and then hit the conversion.

Ireland piled forward for the final 10 minutes but the Australians proved that they are as strong in defence as they are up front and kept the door firmly closed.

And it was another Irish lapse of concentration that allowed Batty to go over in the last minute for a deserved try.