Netball Proteas seek first victory against world champs Australia in October series

The SPAR Netball Proteas will be hoping to finally break their duck against world champions Australia when they tour Down Under for a challenging three-Test series in October.

The series will follow hot on the heels of another tough three-Test series for the Proteas against the Silver Ferns in New Zealand in September.

Both tours are part of the Proteas’ preparations for the Commonwealth Games next year in Glasgow and the Sydney Netball World Cup in 2027.

The first match against Australia will take place at Bendigo’s Red Energy Arena on Saturday, October 4.

South Africa and Australia have played each other 46 times, with Australia winning all the Test matches. However, in recent years, South Africa have narrowed the winning margin against the world’s No 1 team. Much of the credit for this went to former Australian head coach Norma Plummer, who enjoyed two spells with the Proteas.

The most notable efforts by South Africa were at the Quad Series in London in 2018 where The Diamonds beat the Proteas 54-50 and the two-point loss (55-53) in the dying minutes of the ill-tempered 2019 Netball World Cup semi-final in Liverpool.

The last series between the Proteas and Australian Diamonds was played in 2023, also in Australia, which the hosts won 67-52 and 77-50. It was the first standalone Test series between the two nations Down Under in 18 years.

Proteas head coach Jenny van Dyk said, “We are delighted to have this fantastic opportunity to play against the world champions in a three-Test series in Australia, directly after the last New Zealand Test.

“This is an important part of our growth as a team, and it’s important for us to use both of those tours to test ourselves, set out standards and work towards our goals. We are excited to get out there and give it our all.”

Proteas assistant coach also regards the series is a key yardstick for the SA side.

“It’s important for us to challenge ourselves against the best teams in the world and gauge where we are and those teams are as well. We’re looking forward to the challenge of being pushed to the edge, for the best team on the world to ask questions of us, and us finding answers and solutions.”

The African champions will be looking to build on the steady progress in the earlier tour to Jamaica as well as the Netball Nations Cup in England where they lost to the hosts in the final. The world’s fifth-ranked team will have faced all of the top four teams currently above them – Australia, New Zealand, England, and Jamaica – by the end of the tour Down Under.

Australian head coach Stacey Marinkovich said: “The series against South Africa is a key part of our preparation as we build toward major campaigns like the Constellation Cup and, looking ahead, the 2026 Glasgow Commonwealth Games and 2027 Netball World Cup in Sydney. Every match counts and we’re excited to start that journey against the SPAR Proteas in Bendigo.”

The location of the second and third matches of the series will be announced shortly by hosts Netball Australia.