Rugby World Cup: Wales face New Zealand in the quarter-finals

Wales have qualified for the knockout stages of the Rugby World Cup and face hosts New Zealand on Saturday.

But as the eighth seeds, Wales are set to play the top-ranked Black Ferns for the second time in the tournament.

Wales were humiliated in their group meeting with New Zealand, with the hosts in 10 attempts.

It’s been a tense wait for Wales after their disappointing 13-7 defeat by the Wallaroos on Saturday.

After finishing third in Pool A, they were hoping for other results to go their way on Sunday to ensure they finished as one of the top two third-placed teams.

They were guaranteed a place after England comprehensive victory over South Africa in the final pool game.

Wales will remain in Whangarei this week, where they will be hoping to trouble the tournament as the World Cup winds down.

Wales head coach Ioan Cunningham said the players would “dust themselves off quickly” after the disappointing performance in Australia.

“Now it’s important to look at the key points that we need to fix in the short term and re-energize the group,” he told BBC Sport Wales.

“Playing the home team in the quarter-finals of the World Cup in their backyard is a big challenge and it will be a great opportunity for the girls to come out and perform.”

Wales captain Sivan Lillycrop said: “We were obviously disappointed after the game but we were lucky to get another opportunity and another shot at the Black Ferns and that’s brilliant.

“We will look forward to it now, start preparing and work hard to put ourselves in a better place on Saturday.”

Pool B winners Canada will play second-placed third-placed USA in another replay of the group stage encounter – the Canadians won 29-14 on Sunday but the American’s margin of defeat was not enough to see them drop below Wales in the last eight.

Pool C winners England will face Australia, while France, who finished second in the group, will play Italy, with the winners facing either New Zealand or Wales in the semi-finals.