Wales Netball select their Commonwealth Games squad after fixture against military side

Just over a week before Wales announced their Commonwealth Games squad, the UK Armed Forces side travelled to the Sport Wales National Centre in Cardiff, to provide some tough opposition for the national side.

Wales needed to cut down their training squad to 12for the Games and they already have a well established relationship with UKAF Netball, so it was an easy call to make.

The UKAF side, coached by former Northern Ireland international British Army Staff Sergeant Nordia Masters, was made up of 13 players from across all three services.

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"I'm extremely proud of what they've done today. You know, Wales is fighting for their lives, so to speak. They are doing selection for Comm Games, of course they are going to come out here fighting, but our girls also they came out with some fire in their belly."

Royal Air Force Sergeant Emily Fitzpatrick captained the UKAF side and said the Wales team were relentless to play against:

"They bought physicality throughout the whole match. Obviously they're here to select their squad, they've got a bunch of them on the bench so, no matter what, they had fresh legs coming on," she said.

Royal Navy Lieutenant Emily Finister, who is UKAF's vice co-captain, was in awe of the international team's defence, saying: "I mean they did not let us have an inch; it was relentless defence out there for them and their attack were just phenomenal."

Wales Netball captain Bethan Dyke, who represented Wales at the 2014, 2018 and 2022 Commonwealth Games, was very thankful for the opposition that UKAF provided at such a crucial time:

"They definitely brought it to us, I think every single quarter they gave us lots of different things to think about, which is brilliant for us."

The 2026 Commonwealth Games are taking place in Glasgow, running for 11 days from 23 July to 2 August.

Wales Netball, who are in Pool B with New Zealand (2), Jamaica (3), Uganda (7), Scotland (10), and Trinidad & Tobago (11), kick off their campaign on Saturday 25 July against Uganda at 16:00.