SA's Msomi says they can't start thinking about England at Netball World Champs yet

South Africa's Bogiwe Msomi and Jamaica's Adean Thomas battle for the ball during the Netball World Cup match in Liverpool, England on Sunday. Photo: Peter Byrne/PA via AP

South Africa's Bogiwe Msomi and Jamaica's Adean Thomas battle for the ball during the Netball World Cup match in Liverpool, England on Sunday. Photo: Peter Byrne/PA via AP

Published Jul 16, 2019

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LIVERPOOL – South Africa’s Bongiwe Msomi says that her team can’t afford to look too far ahead at Thursday night’s game against England, despite the match looking increasingly likely to decide the winner of Group G.

The Proteas and Tracey Neville’s English Roses both have six points, and look to be favourites to secure the two semifinal berths on offer to teams in their group.

However, after their first rest day of the tournament on Tuesday, both have another fixture to contend with before Thursday’s showdown: England take on Trinidad and Tobago while South Africa face Uganda with both matches on Wednesday.

Msomi says that the talent the She Cranes (Uganda) possess means that South Africa can’t afford to let their focus wander to the England clash.

She said: “We have Uganda next, and they’re not just another side – they’re a quality side and we’ll have a big game against them, so we are focusing on that. Whatever happens elsewhere in the group, we have to perform to benefit ourselves.

“We have to switch on if we want to work through the tournament – we have so much respect for all the teams here. It’s game-by-game and we have to be switched on still, because we can’t take anyone for granted – that’s why this tournament is huge this year.”

South Africa took on Scotland on Monday and recorded a comfortable 66-38 victory – their fourth from four in the competition so far.

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Of their campaign, Msomi said: “It’s been amazing – it’s been a good journey for us. We came up with the win on Sunday against Jamaica and that was amazing for us. We couldn’t have asked for a better win to give us some confidence going forward.

“Today (Monday), against Scotland, everyone did really well. We came here with 12 players to come on court whenever they were needed and it’s the coach’s strategy to work things out and save legs where we can. 

“We know we’ve got great players to step on court and perform and I think we did that superbly.” 

African News Agency (ANA)

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