The fierce rivalry between the SPAR Proteas and England\u2019s Vitality Roses will be reignited when the SPAR Challenge netball series gets underway at the Ellis Park Arena in the City of Johannesburg on Thursday.<\/p>\n
The teams currently ranked fourth and fifth in the world have enjoyed some hotly contested clashes over the years \u2013 most recently at the start of last year, when the SPAR Proteas claimed one win and England one win in the Nations Cup in the UK.<\/p>\n
What makes this week\u2019s SPAR Challenge even more intriguing is the fact that the arch-rivals have been drawn in the same pool for the Commonwealth Games, to be held later this year in Glasgow.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think with eyes on the Commonwealth Games, this is great preparation for us as a country to see what type of combinations work best against the combinations that they put out there,\u201d said SPAR Proteas coach Jenny van Dyk.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s great to have the first opportunity as a new coaching pair to actually play one of the [world\u2019s] top four in South Africa. That\u2019s also something that we feel \u2013 they need to feel a little bit of our environment, so we\u2019re hoping that the crowds will come out and give them that true South African feel to the game as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou only become the best if you play against the best and if you beat the best\u2026 And it\u2019s important that the players understand the standard they have to uphold,\u201d added Van Dyk.<\/p>\n
SPAR Proteas captain Khanyisa Chawane said she was confident her side has what it takes to pull off another win against the English, especially on home turf.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m extremely excited, especially because the team that\u2019s going to face them now is not the same. We\u2019ve got new people who have new things to give, so we\u2019re getting into this series unpredictable and that\u2019s what I love about this team.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery person who is within this squad is ready to perform for us going into this series. With England we never really want to step back, we are going to go in hard, we want to win this series and that\u2019s what we\u2019re looking forward to.\u201d<\/p>\n
The England camp expressed their love of touring South Africa and the respect they have for the SPAR Proteas side after so many close battles.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think this head-to-head over many years has actually brought a fantastic quality of netball \u2013 quite a different style to match-ups between ourselves and Australia and New Zealand. In its own right I think the head-to-head has been really entertaining and really competitive,\u201d said England coach Jess Thirlby.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe really respect the passion and the momentum that the Proteas have had over the last 18 months\u2026 the breakthrough talent that\u2019s come in, so we\u2019re really grateful for the opportunity to hit out against what we believe to be a South African team on the rise.\u201d<\/p>\n
England captain Fran Wilson added:\u00a0 \u201cI know we\u2019ve got a few girls in our squad who haven\u2019t had the opportunity yet to play against South Africa\u2026 so that\u2019s very important for us as well, to have some players get that exposure against the South African style, feel the rivalry that we now have which is really special.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m expecting similar rivalry to what we had last January, but here on your home soil, so we\u2019re very excited for it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The opening match between the SPAR Proteas and the Vitality Roses takes place at 6pm on Thursday 29 January, with the remaining matches being contested on Saturday, 31 January (5pm) and Sunday, 01 February 2026 (4pm).<\/p>\n
Prior to each of the matches, the South African men\u2019s netball side, who recently came off another successful campaign at the Africa Netball Cup, will also be put to the test as they take on the visiting Australian national team, also in a three-Test series.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"