Proteas celebrate strong start at Nations Cup
The Proteas were basking in the afterglow on Monday of a perfect opening weekend in the Netball Nations Cup, where they picked up a 70-45 win over Uganda and hard-fought 61-59 victory over the hosts at Nottingham’s Motorpoint Arena.
The South Africans top the standings in the four-team tournament. They have the week to prepare for their clash against Malawi at the Copper Box Arena in London on Saturday.
“The mood in the camp is positive and energetic and inspiring at the moment,” Proteas head coach Jenny van Dyk told Independent Media Sport exclusively from the UK.
“It’s great to have two good wins against two strong teams, so even though we know it’s far from done, it’s a step in the right direction for us. We just spent a little bit of our time enjoying what we have accomplished this weekend. We are very proud of the players.”
The coach must be relieved that there were no lingering concerns after star goalkeeper Sanmarie Visser was forced off with a nose injury for a while during Sunday’s clash against the Roses. It is no coincidence that her absence resulted in a surge by the Roses.
So what did the South Africans do differently this time to upset their higher-ranked rivals?
“I think we handled the key moments better,” Van Dyk said. “We had a great start and usually in that second quarter against stronger teams we end up fading away.
“So, (it was good that) we could keep that competitiveness for three quarters and then we know we can finish strong and get ourselves in a position where we can score consecutive goals. That fourth quarter, at a stage we scored nine goals in a row, which was fantastic
“There’s just so much improvement. I think the players are still irritated because they feel they can perform so much better.”
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The South Africans looked far more comfortable against the Roses than they did against the far more physical, athletic Jamaicans in losing the recent Margaret Beckford Sunshine Series 3-0 in the Caribbean.
“As we have moved through all the different styles over the past couple of weeks, the England game is definitely a lot more like how we play,” Van Dyk admitted. “It still took some time to adjust.
“It still took a little time to feel and to adjust to the systems and structures and set pieces they have set up. Luckily now we’ve got good footage and we can work on that.”
Before the match against England, currently ranked fourth in the world, the hosts had a stronger historical record against the fifth-ranked South Africans, winning 52 out of 69 matches, while South Africa had claimed victory in 16, with the remainder ending in a draw.
Despite the Proteas being almost assured of a place in the final, the coach is wary of a fightback from the home team.
“Obviously teams like this will come back, do their homework and really make it difficult for you. But that’s what we want because then it means we need to step up even more, and that will make us great, at the end of the day.”
Next up, though, is the match against Malawi, and the South Africans are not taking their regional rivals lightly. Malawi beat Uganda 59-45 on Sunday.
“The next one is a difficult one because Malawi has really made a great improvement, they’ve even beaten Uganda, so we have a little bit of time to think how we want to approach this game.
“It does deliver some opportunity for us to test one or two other players but we also want to put this squad in a position where we keep our momentum and where we manage the load between our players.”
The Proteas have lined up two friendlies to give the fringe players a chance as well to test combinations for the final weekend. The decider is set for Sunday at the Copper Box Arena in London.