By Josh Barrowcliff

Australia put in a world class performance to beat Ireland 50-0 and send their opponents crashing out of the Rugby League World Cup.

In the biggest win of the tournament so far, the Australians ran in nine tries to set up a quarter final clash with the surprise package of the competition, the USA.

Daly Cherry-Evans inspired a much-changed side with a man-of-the-match performance as the number one team in the world made it three wins from three at the tournament.

The Kangaroos opened the scoring after just two minutes. Skillfully executed offloads paved the way for Jarryd Hayne to slide over for the first try.

Australia continued to test a plucky Irish defence and soon crossed again, Cooper Cronk crashing over with Cameron Smith's conversion putting his side 10-0 ahead.

Strong resistance by Ireland kept their opponents at bay for almost 20 minutes before the Kangaroos struck once more. A delightful offload by Cherry-Evans enabled Greg Bird to dart over for their third try with Smith converting from a tight angle.

Exuding confidence, Australia exploited the gaps that were appearing in the Wolfhounds defence. Brett Morris side stepped his would-be tacklers before gliding across the line and another successful kick by Smith put the home side even further behind.

Just before half -time. Billy Slater dummied his way past three Irish defenders to give Australia a healthy 26-0 advantage at the break.

Ireland looked rejuvenated at the start of the second period and matched Australia toe-to-toe for a quarter of an hour before they fell further behind. Cronk collected his second try of the match, a superb individual effort, and Corey Parker slotted over his first conversion.

Soon after, Cherry-Evans capped a fine performance with a perfectly weighted kick through the Irish defence, which he re-gathered before touching down. Parker added the extras to make it 38-0.

With the wind in their sails the Australians soon made more headway, Andrew Fifita muscling his way over the line, with Parker again on target with the conversion.

With the Irish visibly tiring Jarryd Hayne strolled past two challenges to bring up their ninth try of the match and Parker found his range again to seal an emphatic victory.

Australia will now look ahead to their quarter final clash with the USA on Saturday November 16 (1:00pm) at Glyndwr University Racecourse Stadium, Wrexham.