WALES Women have been drawn against New Zealand and Canada for next year's World Cup in Ireland.

Rowland Phillips' side, who continue their preparations with a fixture against the Armed Forces at BT Sport Cardiff Arms Park on Friday, will also face Fiji, Japan or Hong Kong.

They qualified for the tournament by finishing fourth in last season's Six Nations and face a daunting task against the Canadians, who were runners-up to England in 2014, and the Kiwis, who thrashed Wales 63-7 on their way to a fifth-place finish.

Wales will be hoping to improve on their eighth place in the competition, which is being held in Dublin and Belfast, with the final at Ulster's Kingspan Stadium.

The other pools pit holders England against USA, Italy and either Scotland or Spain while hosts Ireland go up against France, Australia and the other nation that makes it through the Fiji/Japan/Hong Kong qualifying play-offs.

Phillips took over the reins in the summer and put his side through their paces with a fixture against Scotland last month, winning 15-0 at their new home in the capital.

They lock horns with the Armed Forces on Friday (kick-off 7.30pm) with the new boss looking for improvements from his side, and also monitoring plenty of their rivals in the Remembrance Day fixture.

He said: "Interestingly, I'll have an eye on players on both teams, since some of our Wales internationals are serving soldiers and will feature for the UK Armed Forces, which makes this an intriguing fixture."

"We enjoyed a fantastic atmosphere a fortnight ago at our new home and I'm expecting an even bigger crowd this Friday because there will be plenty of people affiliated with the military also interested in this match.

"The Welsh crowd really helped lift the performance of the team against Scotland, so I'm hoping for more of the same this week.

"We played some good rugby and defended well against the Scots, but we'll be looking to take it up another level this Friday, as well as trying out some new things.

"The Armed Forces will be a well-drilled side, naturally, so we've got to be on top of our game against them. It'll be a special occasion, and we want to do the day justice by putting on a good show."

Tickets cost £5 for adults and £1 for under-16s.