Roses need victory over South Africa to avoid Neville’s wrath
England will be hoping to avoid another half-time scolding from head coach Tracey Neville as they take on South Africa today in the final match of the Quad Series.
Neville let loose at her players during their defeat by Australia on Monday night, accusing them of taking their top-ranked opponents too lightly. The squad have since taken an 11-hour flight to Johannesburg, where they will need to adjust their bodies quickly if they are to get their preparations for the Commonwealth Games back on track.
Having dramatically beaten New Zealand last week, the Roses, who are third in the world, started sluggishly against Australia and at one point in the first half were trailing by nine goals.
“We left ourselves with too much to do,” said captain Ama Agbeze. “We played them this time last year and we did the exact same thing. We ran out of time to close the gap. I’m disappointed that we started as we did. The coach shouted at us at half-time and asked if we thought Australia were going to lie down and let us beat them.”
England fought back in the second half and nearly pulled level during a thrilling third quarter, but eventually paid for the slow start.
The result dampened some of the expectation that had been built following the victory over New Zealand, ranked second in the world, last Saturday.
However, Agbeze took encouragement from the spirit the side showed in reducing the deficit against Australia to a final scoreline of 50-46.
“The England of old, if we were eight goals behind, it could have blown out to 20,” she said. “In previous times a significant amount of goals has not meant we wake up and get on with it.”
The Quad Series is England’s last competitive action before the Commonwealth Games begin in Australia in April, so today’s meeting with South Africa will provide a final measure of where they stand in comparison to the world’s finest sides.
“If we had played our game against Australia and played as well as we could have, we could have definitely won,” Agbeze said. “That’s what is frustrating. Hopefully, at the Commonwealth Games and in the future, we will be able to play at the best of our ability.
“In terms of fitness we are there. It is more about being mentally strong and working out within the game what changes need to be made. It’s about more people in the team having game awareness of what they need to do.”
England were narrowly beaten by South Africa in the last meeting between these two, and Agbeze warned that this encounter may not be quite as thrilling as the matches against New Zealand and Australia.
“South Africa play really safe netball,” she said. “They don’t lose possession very often. It’s going to be really important that we look at the footage of them and figure out where exactly we can win the ball.”