The Proteas sit in top spot in Pool A following their 78-30 win at The Hydro, before Australia's Diamonds extended their own unbeaten run with a 68-32 demolition of Malawi in the final game of the day.

“I’m really happy for the group,” South Africa captain Khanyisa Chawane (pictured) said after playing 38 minutes in the win against the Warriors.

“It gives us a lot of confidence to run our systems against these teams. The things that we're able to nail are the ones that give us confidence to go into the bigger matches.

“Especially the fact that our coach was able to put different players on the court and everyone was able to deliver. That’s a big positive for us.”

After a sluggish start, South Africa found an extra gear in the second half, outscoring Northern Ireland by 17 points in each of the third and fourth quarters.

“We told ourselves to step the intensity up, because the game might not be giving us the intensity we need for the games that are coming,” Chawane said.

Those games are set to be the toughest of the competition so far for South Africa. Before ending their pool phase against England on Thursday, they must try to find a way past defending champions Australia on Wednesday.  

“It's big, but we're not scared of big,” Proteas coach Jenny van Dyk said. 

“We always knew we were going to have those two back-to-back matches. It's going to be tough, but we're quite used to a tournament-type format where you'll play two or three strong teams in the same week.

“I trust in the players and I know that they're going to be tested, but they're also ready to be tested on this level. At the end of the day, we know they will perform when the time comes.”

In Pool B, Wales recorded their first win of the competition at the third attempt, running out 74-30 winners against Trinidad and Tobago.

“We're really proud of that performance,” the Wales centre, Meg Pilkington, said.

“Once we got a lead, we just wanted to keep pushing on and have a good performance across the whole four quarters.”

In the penultimate match of the day, Uganda underlined their status as a rising force in the sport by pushing world No.2-ranked team New Zealand all the way in Pool B before losing 58-50.