Wales suffer heavy defeat to New Zealand at Netball World Cup

Wales suffered a heavy defeat as they were outclassed by defending champions New Zealand in their Pool G match at the Netball World Cup in South Africa.

The Silver Ferns got off to a fast start to lead 19-8 lead at the end of the first quarter in Cape Town and reached half-time with a 40-16 advantage.

Despite taking their foot of the gas in the second half, the number two raked side in the world eased to a 83-34 victory over their ninth ranked opponents.

Wales have recorded just one win in four games so far in the tournament, beating Sri Lanka yesterday.

Wales captain Nia Jones said: “We knew today was probably a bit out of reach for us in terms of where we’re at as a national team.

“There were structures that we put out today that worked and if they worked against these guys, we know that they will work against Uganda and Trinidad and Tobago, that’s what we really need to look at and stick to it for a little bit longer.

“I think we lost a bit of our discipline; we know they off-mark, they have got a break zone and we fell into their traps a little bit too often today.”

Next up for Wales are Uganda on Wednesday while unbeaten New Zealand play the hosts South Africa.