After defeat in the opening game, England beat South Africa 49-61 in Johannesburg today, levelling the three-match test series. The result sets up a deciding third game tomorrow, which will be England’s final international test match before the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games.
Vitality Roses Head Coach Jess Thirlby said: “I think we were smarter with the ball today, moved it a little bit better around some excellent defence and I think you saw the passion and commitment defensively from the whole unit including our attacking players to contribute and wear down and force a little bit more error today so that we could capitalise off it.
“It was another fantastic game, a brilliant contest and sets up tomorrow brilliantly.”
Captain Fran Williams, who was also awarded Player of the Match, said: “I think we showed such composure today in the way were able to weather that storm early. South Africa came out all guns blazing as we knew they would. They’ve been playing some amazing netball this series, and I think we did so well to go goal-for-goal and then take our moments in that second half to really push on and put on that scoreboard pressure.
“I loved the way we played that last quarter, we didn’t do anything too flashy, we were happy to sit in that goal-for-goal knowing we’d done the work and it was the smarts that got us over the line.”
Looking ahead to tomorrow’s game, Williams said: “I think we’re going to need to step it up a gear. How exciting for us, on both sides, to practice playing in those must win games. That’s what we want in a Commonwealth Games year, and we’ve spoken about that, putting everything on the line. Today was a must win for us and tomorrow’s going to be about how we bounce back and show that we can do that not just once but twice, and that’s what’s going to be needed in the summer.”
The two teams will play tomorrow in Johannesburg, with the first centre pass at 14:00 GMT.
With thanks to England Netball
