South Africa and England will battle it out for third and fourth place in the Netball Quad Series at the Cape Town International Convention Centre this afternoon (16:00). Then it will be New Zealand and Australia (18:00) to determine the winners of the 2023 edition of the tournament.

South Africa finished last on the log after two losses against New Zealand (41-61) and Australia (48-65), and a draw against England.

The Proteas are in with a chance against the English Roses this afternoon after Sunday’s 46-all draw, says coach Norma Plummer.

“I think we can match them. They started with their bench players against us before. This was a mistake and, I thought, a bit disrespectful. We can match them and now that we’ve had the games, we are ready to take them on. I am confident of third place.”

Despite no wins in the series, Plummer believes the South African players can compete with any international players.

“But they need more quality opportunities to train and play better. There is a lot of work to do. The players must experience the pressure international netball brings. It is hard to do with virtually no competition.”

Plummer will also hope for a better performance from the umpires when South Africa take on England today. The Proteas were down a player in the last minute of Sunday’s match against the Roses after goalkeeper Phumza Maweni was sent off for persistent contact.

“I would like to see umpires all have the same idea on what a contact, obstruction or some sort of penalty is, but they all seem to be different. We might be from different countries, but not enough is done to unify the base of those umpires being on the same page.”

With the 2023 Netball World Cup now just 183 days away (July 28 to August 6), Plummer says the Proteas need to see more international action at a high standard to remain consistent.

“We haven’t been playing in a national competition like the three top countries. They have had the opportunity to play one another and play full-on test matches. We haven’t had that luxury, so we’re slightly off the pace on where the fitness levels could be, but that’s not the fault of the players.

“It’s just the way it has worked out since the Commonwealth Games; Netball South Africa has got to work harder to pull those top countries in, so you don’t drop off the intensity.”