England caught in Proteas’ net
QUAD SERIES: PLUMMER PRAISED
Australian’s tenure will come to an end in January.
Proteas captain Bongi Msomi was full of praise for national netball coach Norma Plummer yesterday after her team earned a nail-biting win over England.
Again displaying improved skills across the court, South Africa put up a gutsy fight in their Quad Series match in Invercargill.
Holding their fancied opponents to 26-26 at half-time, they maintained their composure and held on for a 54-51 victory.
“This feels amazing. We really wanted to come here and perform in this year’s Quad Series and we’ve really been working hard,” a delighted Msomi said after the game.
“We knew this would come one day but we did not think it would come today.”
It was their maiden victory in the annual four-nation campaign, and only their second win over the third-ranked England Roses in the last 18 years.
“Since we started playing together as this team, we just wanted to keep the ball that we had and work hard on defence,” Msomi said.
“I think we knew how to play, but the information our coaching staff has given us is really showing on court.
“We’re really excited. We just wanted to play and eventually this just came through for us. I’m really proud.”
While it was announced last month that former Proteas captain and assistant coach Elsje Jordaan would take over as head coach in January, Netball SA confirmed Plummer and her assistant Nicole Cusack would stay on as consultants until the 2019 World Cup in Liverpool.
Plummer, who won the World Cup with Australia in 2007 and 2011, first worked with the Proteas as a consultant during the 2011 season, and she was appointed as head coach in June 2015.
“Having Norma as our coach really has given us so much confi- dence,” Msomi said.
“She’s got such great history behind her... and we really are privileged to have her.”
After picking up their first Quad Series points, following narrow defeats to New Zealand and Australia last month, the Proteas were set to face Fiji in a Test series later this month.
The four-nation campaign will resume with the third leg in South Africa early next year, with the Proteas looking to climb up the standings on home soil.