Head coach Van Dyk ‘proud’ of fighting Proteas despite defeat

After being a player down for a crucial period of the match, head coach Jenny van Dyk was full of praise for her team, despite the Proteas side being narrowly edged out by England in the final of the Netball Nations Cup tournament in England at the weekend.

South Africa had gone unbeaten in their first three matches of the series, progressing to the final after securing a thumping 70-45 victory over Uganda, a rare 61-59 win over England and a narrow 58-55 triumph over Malawi.

In the final, however, they were beaten by England in London on Sunday in a thrilling clash, with the hosts wrapping up a 61-59 win.

While the SA team produced a gutsy effort to stay in the match, they were put on the back foot in the third quarter when centre Refiloe Nketsa was sent to the sin bin for dangerous play.

“I’m not even quite sure what happened there but we’ll have to go back and look at what could have gone wrong,” Van Dyk said after the game.

‘True South African character’

Van Dyk felt the Proteas had shown true grit to stay in the hunt despite facing what proved to be a devastating setback for their trophy ambitions.

“At the end of the day, coming back into the game with only six players on court, I just thought we showed true South African character and our nation’s spirit,” Van Dyk said.

“It’s about finishing strong, and we said it from the start that it was important for us to stay in the game and I felt that we did.”

Punching above their weight against a higher-ranked England side was a step forward for the national team, and Van Dyk was pleased with the overall performance in the Nations Cup as they bounced back from a 3-0 defeat in a three-match series against Jamaica last month.

“At the end of the day, there’s no excuses for us. We’ve had a great campaign,” she said.

“We’ve been away from home for a long time and I’m very proud of my players. I felt they showed so much character.”