Commonwealth Games 2018: Wales confirm netball and men's rugby 7s for Gold Coast

The Wales netball team are one of 12 national sides that will compete at the 2018 Commonwealth Games

Wales have confirmed the netball and men's rugby 7s teams will compete at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

They are the first team sports to be selected for a place at the Gold Coast.

The netball team retained eighth in the world rankings to book their spot alongside 11 other teams, while the rugby 7s side qualified in this year's World Rugby Sevens Series.

The women's rugby 7s team have also qualified after finishing fifth at the Kazan Sevens but are not yet confirmed.

"We look forward to announcing other Welsh team sports over the coming months as they qualify for Gold Coast," said Helen Phillips, chair of the Commonwealth Games Wales Board.

"Qualifying for the Gold Coast Games is down to the hard work and dedication of the players, their coaches and support staff at Welsh Netball and the Welsh Rugby Union."

Wales will send a team of around 150 athletes to the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia which will be held between 4-15 April.

Their target is to bring back more than 25 medals - the number they won in Auckland 1990, their best haul from a game outside the UK.

Team sports, weightlifting and para-sports places are determined by rankings, but under a new Commonwealth Games Federation policy individual athletes across other sports will be nominated by national governing bodies based on eligibility and performance criteria.