Dazzling England run riot to top group
England bounced back from an injury setback in style to secure an emphatic victory over Samoa and top their group at the Netball World Cup. England’s third comprehensive win of this tournament came amid the crushing realisation that they must go on in the competition without defensive mid-courter Layla Guscoth, who, less than 24 hours after rupturing her Achilles’ tendon in England’s win over Scotland on Saturday, hobbled on to the court on crutches, her left leg strapped in a cast.
But the hosts lived up to their status as favourites with ease, cruising to the tournament’s record-equalling winning margin, before it was surpassed by Australia’s 99-24 drubbing of Sri Lanka later in the day. They will face Jamaica in the second stage of the tournament today.
“It was absolutely essential after Saturday to come out strategically and get the fight back in, get the passion back in, it was a highly emotional day,” said England coach Tracey Neville. “I think we did that well, we combined really well and every person who came on really made an impact. I think that’s absolutely crucial now going into the business end of the tournament.”
Guscoth’s premature exit in Liverpool will almost certainly guarantee more time on court for vice-captain Jade Clarke. The 35-year-old was Neville’s perennial starting wing-defence in Guscoth’s absence and, as England’s mostcapped player in this squad – she was making her 164th appearance for her country – her experience towered over Ariana Luamanu, the Samoan wing-attack, at 17 the youngest player at the tournament.
England’s defence, however, is one of the most watertight in the competition, fortified by the Commonwealth gold defensive partnership of Eboni-usoro Brown and Geva Mentor, and it was not until five minutes into the second quarter that the pair allowed Samoa to reach double figures as Neville’s side stifled the Pacific Islanders.
“There’s a real confidence and belief going through the team at the moment,” Usoro-brown said.
“In each game we’ve built steadily in terms of combinations, belief and confidence that we can actually do this.
“Obviously losing Layla was a big loss for the team, but we wanted to come out today and be solid, get our combinations ready for the rest of the competition. We came out and we were consistent across all quarters.”
She added: “Layla is such a trooper. For someone who has suffered such an injury at this type of competition is absolutely devastat
ing for her, but she’s been so positive. She’s wished and willed us on and she’ll be there with us all the way throughout this competition.”
In attack, Jo Harten’s dynamism in the shooting circle proved too much for Samoa goalkeeper Rachel Rasmussen. Harten stormed into what space she could exploit and oozed confidence while dunking long-range shots in the first quarter, putting England 22-7 up. She went on to record 100-per-cent accuracy for her 41 attempts on goal.
England carved Samoa open in the attacking third, like a knife slicing through butter. On occasions, they simply used a horizontal lob through the centre from Serena Guthrie or Helen Housby to feed Harten, such was the nature of the Roses’ dominance.
Guthrie had nonchalantly revealed before the tournament that she did not feel any pressure in captaining her country at a home World Cup, her justification being that the real tests still lie ahead. This was not one of those.
She said: “We just had some fun out there today, letting the ball go, off the pass, off the shot, and it was a good win and a good performance. We had to respect Samoa. We put out a really strong team and we had to get off to a good start, but once we had the jitters and the nerves out of the way we were just having fun out there.
“We were definitely trying our best the whole time, we didn’t let our foot off the pedal and that showed in the scoreline.”