It is perhaps fitting that England’s Netball World Cup semi-final on Saturday in Cape Town against New Zealand will be a rematch from 2019.
Four years ago, a stone’s throw from the docks of Liverpool, the Silver Ferns crushed English hopes of advancing to a first final, in front of a home crowd.
The Ferns, at the time, were on a redemption campaign. Twelve months previously, at the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast, they had finished in fourth place, their worst-ever result at the tournament. Then followed the appointment of the renowned netball mastermind Dame Noeline Taurua, who was appointed to rebuild New Zealand with the aim of catching the world napping in Liverpool. She did so spectacularly well that her Ferns ultimately snatched the world title from Australia in a thrilling final.
Revenge will then surely be on the minds of the English Roses still in the current team. Geva Mentor, Layla Guscoth, Helen Housby, Fran Williams, Nat Metcalf, Jade Clarke and Chelsea Pitman will know the heartache intimately.
But those fresher in the squad will have their own axe to grind. Last year at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England went from title holders to humbled after being bested by New Zealand in the third-place playoff. It was a loss even more sharply felt by the fact that England had defeated the Silver Ferns in the tournament’s earlier rounds.
The history between England and New Zealand sides is as rich as it is loveless, and certainly makes for a compelling backdrop. But the recent past will be of much greater interest to the two.
The Roses, to the surprise of many in Cape Town, go into the semi-final in pole position after a historic 56-55 win against Australia. The coach, Jess Thirlby, used guile, brawn and the full might of her bench to effect changes that Australia did not adjust to.
For New Zealand the journey to the semi-final has been a much bumpier ride. A day after a tickle from Uganda, the star-shooter Grace Nweke was ruled out of the competition with injury. The Ferns banded back together again but were held to a stunning draw by South Africa, followed by a 48-59 defeat at the hands of Jamaica.
How England and New Zealand match up in their semi-final will be intriguing. Though the Roses beat Australia there are lingering concerns that Thirlby may have played all her cards to get it done. The connection between the Netball Super League stars Williams and Funmi Fadoju, which rocked the Diamonds, will now come as no surprise.
In the same breath, New Zealand will have to navigate past England’s monster shooting end. Housby and Eleanor Cardwell have been outstanding in the tournament so far, shooting at 94.6% and 92.8% respectively. The Ferns have the firepower in defence to quell them but, as with Australia who also had the personnel, it will be about execution.
In the other semi-final, Australia will have the task of beating Jamaica, a team that have yet to put a foot wrong in South Africa.
Just as with their rivals, the two have a captivating shared history. In Birmingham, Jamaica stunned the Diamonds, and the world, in the tournament’s pool stages before Australia later returned the favour in the final. It was a night of mixed emotions for the Sunshine Girls. Joy at having contested their first major final but bitterness for having come so close and fallen.
With six Jamaicans competing in Australia’s Super Netball league, the Diamonds will be familiar with their opponents but it won’t make silencing them any easier. Jhaniele Fowler and the defending duo Shamera Sterling and Latanya Wilson have been on top form so far, and will test Australia’s resolve, particularly as they will be without Diamond Gretel Bueta, their get-out-of-jail-free player.
In Australia’s favour will be the legs Stacey Marinkovich chose to save in their loss against England. The shooter Sophie Garbin, who has had a seismic impact in the Diamonds dress, was notably not deployed in the game when it felt like she could have been. The mid-courter Jamie Lee-Price similarly only logged 11 minutes against the Roses before coming off.
