London, England: Despite the SPAR Proteas losing both their opening games of the 2022 Netball Quad Series in London this past weekend, Head Coach Dorette Badenhorst says lessons learnt from their opening losses to England on Saturday (71 – 47) and world number one ranked Australia on Sunday (60 – 40), will prepare her team for their Tuesday clash with world champions New Zealand.
On Sunday the SPAR Proteas who are ranked fifth in the latest World Netball rankings took on Quad Series favourites Australian Diamonds. The two sides had locked horns forty times and South Africa are yet to win against the Aussies.
Dorette Badenhorst made a few changes to the team that started against England on Saturday. During her post match interview against England, the coach did admit that her team did not play well and promised a better display on her second game.
Yesterday, the SPAR Proteas were the first team to get off the starting blocks and drew first blood and took the game to Australia. The combination of Rademan and Venter in attack seemed to have been yielding the desired as the pair made sure to convert all their chances. Short passing game of the SPAR Proteas worked well in their favour as they kept the lead for a good thirteen minutes and only lost the quarter at the end 14 – 12.
In the second quarter, Badenhorst brought on Tshina Mdau on Wing Defence and moved Monique Reyneke to Goal Defence in the place of Vimbela. The SPAR Proteas changed their game plan a bit playing long passes which was not really working for them, they quickly went back to their original short passes game. Mdau was very clinical in the middle of the court making some crucial intercepts. The second quarter went to Australia who won it 27 -23.
Based on how South Africa performed in the first two quarters, you could tell that Badenhorst had a tough talk with them going into this game. The start of the championship quarter saw both teams making a few changes to their teams. Vimbela made a return at the back to partner with Maweni and Khanyisa Chawane replaced Mdau at Wing Defence.
Australian Diamonds ran with the game in the third quarter and made sure that they cement their lead. Nicola Smith took to court at goal defence to replace Vimbela. The Aussies took the quarter 45 – 32 and extended their lead by thirteen points.
A few tactical and positional changes in the last quarter saw SPAR Proteas captain make way for Mdau. Izette Griesel moved to the centre role which was previously occupied by Msomi. Australian proved to be tactically stronger than their counterparts and dominated the remainder of the match.
A few more changes from Badenhorst saw Jessica du Plessis taking to court on behalf of Lefebre Rademan at Goal Attack. It was not meant to be for South Africa who played better but just did not win the match. Australia won the match 60 – 40 at the end of it all.
“On Sunday we played better than we did against England on the opening day. The players played for each other and trusted each other better than they did yesterday. We had a game plan and what I saw today was the team carrying it out. The players that were called up to play really stepped up and I am happy with our performance. It has been particularly important for us to play against some of the best in the world so that we get ready for Commonwealth Games mid-year,” said SPAR Proteas Head Coach Dorette Badenhorst.
On Tuesday South Africa will take on New Zealand Sliver Ferns at 19h15 in the final round robin group stage of the tournament. The game will be broadcast live on
Supersport (Variety 1).
Ends.
RESULTS OF THE 2022 NETBALL QUAD SERIES
Saturday, 15 January 2022 – England beat South Africa 71 – 47
Score Breakdown
Q1: England 16 – 13 South Africa
Q2: England 37 – 24 South Africa
Q3: England 53 – 36 South Africa
Q4: England 71 – 47 South Africa
Sunday, 16 January 2022 – Australia beat South Africa 60 – 40
Score Breakdown
Q1: Australia 14 – 12 South Africa
Q2: Australia 27 – 23 South Africa
Q3: Australia 45 – 32 South Africa
Q4: England 60 – 40 South Africa
FIXTURES
Tuesday, 18 January 2022
19h15 South Africa vs New Zealand
21h15 England vs Australia
Wednesday, 19 January 2022
19h15 Playoff 3rd vs 4th
21h15 Final 1st vs 2nd