After wrapping up their tour of Australia, the Spar Proteas are gearing up to face England’s Vitality Roses in a three match test series.
The two teams last met in January during Quad Series, where they drew once, and England won their play-off match. The two nations also avoided each other in Cape Town during the Netball World Cup, which was hosted for the first time in 60 years on African soil.
World No 1 Australia remained the undisputed champions of world netball when they beat England 61-45 in the final of the global tournament.
South Africa are currently ranked 5th while England are in 3rd position in the world rankings. Netball South Africa President, Cecilia Molokwane emphasised the importance of playing highly ranked teams.
“It is very important for us to play teams that are ranked above because this will serve two great purposes, one being that we can gauge how far or close are we in being one of the best and secondly, we can work our way to improving our points on the table and push our way into the top four.
The more we get our players international exposure and experience the better, this will be sure to sharpen them and make them more competitive,” said Molokwane.
England have all the bragging as they are yet to lose against South Africa this year. The SPAR Proteas will gather in camp on Friday, before jetting out to England on Monday.
The three test matches against England will be played between the 5th, 9th, and 10th of December 2023 with the first match being played in Manchester and the last two in Nottingham.
FULL SQUAD:
Khanyisa Chawane; Boitumelo Mahloko; Kamogelo Maseko; Phumza Maweni; Bongiwe Msomi ©; Rolene Streutker; Refiloe Nketsa; Karla Pretorius; Lefébre Rademan; Jeanté Strydon; Nicola Smith; Ane Retief; Owethu Ngubane; Ine-Marí Venter; Nicholé Taljaard
