Australia survive netball Quad Series scare against South Africa
Gretel Tippett stood tallest in the absence of captain Caitlin Bassett as a rusty Australia beat South Africa 62-45 in the opening Quad Series Test in Liverpool.
The world champions trailed the fifth-ranked Proteas 16-11 after a haphazard first quarter on Sunday but gradually found their feet at Echo Arena, the venue for this year’s World Cup.
They did it without world class goal shoot Bassett, who suffered a fractured forearm during a warm-up match in Manchester on Thursday, ruling her out of the tournament.
Experienced shooter Caitlin Thwaites was solid in the first half before being replaced by goal attack specialist Steph Wood.
Tippett was an important constant throughout at goal attack, named player of the match after landing 30 of 32 shots. She unearthed a slick connection with Wood as Australia won the final quarter 19-7.
Lisa Alexander’s players have barely seen a netball court since winning the Constellation Cup last October and it showed early on. However, she didn’t want excuses for a listless start.
“South Africa did some beautiful things in that first quarter and we were caught napping,” Alexander told AAP. “It’s not acceptable to be hanging around for a quarter, trying to get intercepts or adjusting to the penalty count. We can’t afford that against New Zealand or England.”
The Proteas sped the ball downcourt too easily, prompting Alexander to introduce Jo Weston at goal defence and Jamie-Lee Price at wing defence to stem the flow in the first half.
The key changes came up front in the second half, when Wood and wing attack Kelsey Browne used their freshness to stretch the Proteas while Liz Watson looked more comfortable when shifted back to centre.
Wood’s extra speed troubled South African goal keep Phumza Maweni, who had proven a handful for Thwaites.
“Phumza is a very very good player but when we put Steph on for her, she just didn’t cope with that movement,” Alexander said. “It’s a matter of being unpredictable and Caity [Thwaites] will work hard to address some of those little areas we think she can get better in.”
South African coach and former Australian mentor Norma Plummer said the athletic Tippett was the biggest difference between the teams. “Tippett was terrific. She’s very physically strong and she’s very hard to handle.”
It was Australia’s 450th all-time Test and they maintained their perfect record against South Africa in 39 meetings.
Australia’s next opponents on Sunday (AEDT) are New Zealand, who went down 54-41 to Commonwealth Games champions England.