England finished the preliminary round of the Netball World Cup on top after sweeping aside Scotland 62-37 in their final pool game in Cape Town.
The match was billed as a physical clash with most of the players familiar with each other from the Netball Super League, and an early body check on the Thistle player Rachel Conway after salvaging a deflection was a reminder that when these two nations meet on sport’s biggest stages there is no love lost.
Still, it was England, seven places above Scotland in the world rankings and with 513 more international caps, who had the sharper start. A string of four unanswered goals prompted by a deflection from Chelsea Pitman handed the Roses the lead in the first frame, with the shooters Olivia Tchine and Helen Housby spreading the load as England took a 14-9 lead.
With more competitive games ahead the Scotland head coach, Tamsin Greenway, chose to blood her greener players, handing out World Cup debuts. But the Roses, with medal intentions, gave no quarter to the newbies. Pitman and Tchine, building on the strong connection that was evident during the Malawi win, powered England to a 13-goal lead at the break.
The Thistles’ seven that emerged out of the locker room after half-time showed a pinch more effectiveness than the previous two. Using the 1.94m tall Emma Barrie in the shooting circle, Scotland posted their best quarter score of the game (11-15). The Roses then responded with another rejig and the changes had an immediate impact. Funmi Fadoju, who came on at half-time at goal keeper, looked sharper at the goal defence. She, Geva Mentor and Fran Williams came up with 19 gains to propel England over the line.
“We were patchy on occasions but the start of the second and third again is becoming a good habit for us,” the England head coach, Jess Thirlby, said after the match. “I thought we stamped some authority on those moments in the game and I thought it was really encouraging.
“It was always going to be a little feisty and I’m sure they wanted to get one over on us but we just needed to steer clear of that and get on with the processes that we know will serve us well here against that style and also moving onwards.”
England will now head into the second stage of the tournament as pool winners along with Australia, New Zealand and Jamaica, who pounded the hosts South Africa 67-49 in the final game of the day.
After this phase the top three teams from pools A and B will merge to form pool F, with C and D doing the same to form pool G. Teams will then play those in their new group they have not yet met. After those games, the top two countries will advance to the semi-finals.
