Rugby World Cup: Wales to face New Zealand in quarter-final
- Published
Rugby World Cup: Wales not clinical enough in Australia loss - Hannah Jones
Rugby World Cup quarter final: New Zealand v Wales |
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Venue: Northland Events Centre, Whangarei Date: Saturday, 29 October Kick-off: 07:30 BST |
Coverage: Live BBC Radio Wales Extra commentary on BBC Sport website & app plus live text commentary on BBC Sport website & app |
Wales have qualified for the knockout stages of the Rugby World Cup and will face hosts New Zealand on Saturday.
Victory over Scotland and a losing bonus point against Australia proved enough for Ioan Cunningham's side to advance to the quarter-finals.
But as the eighth seeds, Wales must play the top-ranked Black Ferns for the second time in the tournament.
Wales were humbled in their group-stage meeting with New Zealand, with the home side running in 10 tries.
It had been a tense wait for Wales after their disappointing 13-7 defeat to the Wallaroos on Saturday.
After finishing third in Pool A, they were relying on other results to go their way on Sunday to ensure they finished as one of the two best third-place teams.
They were assured of their place after England's comprehensive win over South Africa in the final pool game.
Wales will remain based in Whangarei this week, where they will hope to create the upset of the tournament as the World Cup enters its business end.
Wales have built up a large base of travelling supporters in New Zealand
Wales head coach Ioan Cunningham said the players will "dust themselves off quickly" after the disappointment of the Australia game.
"It is important now that we review the key areas that we need to fix in a short turnaround and re-energise the group," he told BBC Sport Wales.
"It is a great challenge playing the host team in the quarter-final of the World Cup in their back yard and it will be a great opportunity for the girls to go out there and perform."
Wales squad captain Siwan Lillicrap said: "We were obviously disappointed after the game, but we are fortunate that we have got another opportunity and another shot at the Black Ferns, which is brilliant.
"We will look forward to that now, start our preparations and work hard to make sure we are in the best place possible come Saturday."
Pool B winners Canada will play the other third placed qualifiers USA in another repeat of a group stage encounter - the Canadians winning 29-14 on Sunday but the American's margin of defeat was not large enough to see them slip below Wales in the final eight seedings.
Pool C winners England will face Australia, while the runners-up from that group, France, will play Italy with the winners to face either New Zealand or Wales in the semi-final.