The South African netball team kept their promise and reduced the goal difference in the second Test in the Spar Challenge series on Wednesday night.
Australia won the match 63-42 — South Africa’s best result against Australia in 24 matches. But the deficit of 21 was still well above coach Marlene Wagner’s target of a difference of 10 goals.
As in the first match in Port Elizabeth on Monday, South Africa began at a furious pace, and went into the lead early in the first quarter. This didn’ t last long, as Australia replied immediately, but for a time, the teams were neck and neck. The sheer professionalism and skill of the Australians soon made their presence felt and the visitors began to pull away, despite the desperate efforts of the South Africans.
From the second quarter, it became a procession, with the Australians scoring almost at will and in the third quarter, they scored seven consecutive goals without reply. The Australians always looked the more practised and organised side. When they passed the ball, they knew that someone would be in position to take it, whereas the South Africans often seemed to be searching a player to pass to.
The Australian feints and dummy passes were particularly brilliant and bore testimony to the many hours they spend practising these moves.
Wagner said that while the goal difference was getting smaller all the time, she believed it was essential for the team to practise together at least once a month.
”That’s what the Australians do, and you can see the effect,” she said. ”Our players need to spend more time playing together so that they are confident that they can rely on each other. If we do that, you’ll see how well the team is playing when we go to England later this year.”
The Australian coach, Norma Plummer, said one of the advantages the Australian team had was that just about all the players had gone through the Institute of Sport, which is based in Canberra.
”They go through one or two years of intensive training with some of our top coaches. This applies to all sports, and is one of the reasons Australia does so well in various sports,” she said.
The Australian coach and captain, Liz Ellis, both praised the South African spectators for their enthusiasm and their support for the South African team.
”If we were losing by 20 goals, our crowds would just go home,” said Ellis. ”Here they were cheering their team all the time.”
The third and final Test will be played at the Orlando East Sports Centre in Soweto at 3pm on Saturday afternoon. — Sapa