WALES started their Netball World Cup campaign with a 59-52 win over Fiji that coach Trish Wilcox hailed as an ‘awesome start’ to the tournament.

Caerleon goal shooter Georgia Rowe is part of the Wales squad in Sydney and she and her teammates secured a solid victory against a team ranked one place above them in the world rankings.

“I was really pleased how the girls stepped up the intensity and pushed on into the second half,” said Wilcox.

“Fiji came back at us but the girls stuck to their processes and held on for the win.”

Wilcox praised a "complete performance" in Sydney, Australia on Friday against the group's top seeds, but gave goal-attack Emma Thomas a special mention.

"She shot at 100% - 28 from 28 - so that's an outstanding performance from her," added Wilcox, whose Wales team are ranked eighth in the world.

"We knew it was going to be close and competitive against Fiji but we were confident what we could do against them.

"It was really pleasing the processes were followed and applied and we came out with a really strong win.

"It's huge in terms of morale and confidence. We had a good camp in Tasmania with two wins from three in our preparation games, so it's fantastic to carry on that momentum.

"So in that respect the win has made a huge difference."

A top-two finish in Pool D, with games against Zambia and Uganda to follow, will see Wales qualify for the First Eight phase of the competition.

They play Zambia on Sunday, who were well beaten 74-38 by Uganda on the opening day of the tournament. Their final group game will be against Uganda on Monday.