Proteas to bring on their ‘A’ game against Scotland

“We cannot take Scotland lightly and we have to give our best performance during the series,” Kotze said ahead of the series to be played in Cape Town, between June 19 and 21.

“All the players are in top form and we expect them to be at their best when they take on Scotland.”

Following a tough five-week competitive challenge at the inaugural Netball Cup, where the Free State Crinums were crowned champions after they beat the Gauteng North Jaguars 40-36 in the final, Kotze said she would ensure the players recovered well during the training sessions.

“We are getting together on Friday at Stellenbosch and then on Saturday we’ll work on normal gym and conditioning sessions in the morning.

“It will be a busy week of light training and everyday we’ll follow the same routine.

“But the main focus will be on polishing their skills in the tactical and specialised training sessions.”

Should South Africa win the series against the Scottish Thistles, they will move up to fifth in the International Netball Federation (INF) rankings.

South Africa is currently ranked sixth below fellow Africans, Malawi, who occupied the number five spot since July 2013.

“Winning against Scotland will finally push us to position five on the standings.

“We are a good side and Malawi last beat us in 2010. The main reason why they stayed on fifth position is because they played lower ranked teams and collected points.

“I took a decision to play and beat the high ranked teams and that affected us on the rankings, but we are not sorry we made the decision.”

Kotze said they would also use the series to gauge their preparations ahead of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

“The series will definitely be part of our preparation ahead of the Games and is also an opportunity for us to make the necessary final adjustments.

“It will also be the best opportunity to rate all our new caps who did well during the netball cup.”

South Africa will come up against 11 nations at the international showpiece which includes England, Jamaica, Australia and New Zealand.

The Proteas would hope for a repeat of last year’s performance against England, where they beat them 39-37 in their Tri-Nations match, in Port Elizabeth.

“I have a lot of faith in the team. The fact that we took the last test against England has put the girls on a positive note.

“We aim to do well against England and Jamaica and want to at least end in the top four which will put up in good standing ahead of the World Cup.

“The progress the team has had is obvious, when we started in 2011 our goal difference against the top teams was always three points and it has decreased over the last year and half. The more we play the top teams, the more we get better.”

The Proteas finished sixth overall after their last showing at the 2010 Commonwealth games in Delhi, India.

Proteas squad: Zanele Mdodana, Chrisna van Zyl, Erin Burger, Karla Mostert, Adele Niemand, Maryka Holtzhausen, Melissa Myburgh, Lenize Potgieter, Bongi Msomi, Precious Mthembu, Kefiloe Tsotetsi and Phumza Maweni.

– Sapa