The Wales netball team may go by the nickname ‘Feathers’, but Proteas assistant coach Dumisani Chauke expects to be met by fire-breathing dragons in their much-anticipated Netball World Cup opening game at the Cape Town International Convention Centre on Friday evening.
Wales are considered rank outsiders against the hosts, particularly after the Proteas ran out comfortable victors at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham last year. Bongi Msomi’s team are also ranked four places above their visitors.
But World Cup’s are an entirely different proposition altogether. Especially for the hosts who are routinely inundated with plenty of off-field commitments - which the Proteas side have an abundance of this week during the build-up - while the expectation from the local fans also fuels the pressure cooker.
“We are expecting Wales to come out and challenge us. We know that they've gone back to the drawing board, they've analysed us and they've prepared well for us after we played them at the 2022 Commonwealth Games,” Chauke said.
“We are expecting them to come out guns blazing. They're not gonna hand us anything on a silver platter. They will definitely make us work for it.”
The Proteas have a hectic schedule that has them facing Wales (Friday, 6pm), Sri Lanka (Saturday, 4pm) before going head-to-head with Caribbean powerhouse Jamaica (Sunday, 6pm) prior to the knockout stages next week.
Chauke believes her team is well-equipped to handle the frenetic pace of tournament, especially as the 2019 semi-finalists have been infused with fresh talents in Nicola Smith (23), Elmere van der Berg (22) and Jeanté Strydom (26) to complement the experience of skipper Msomi, Karla Pretorius (vice-captain), Khanyisa Chawane and 38-year-old veteran Phumza Maweni.
“We do have a blend of experience and youth. Everyone is blending quite well. The senior players are doing their role in sharing their experiences and knowledge with the youngsters,” she said.
“Our players also have a recovery protocol, which is set out by our medical team, and everyone is pretty set on what it is that they need to do for them to recover quickly to be able to be ready for another game in the next 24 hours.
“In terms of our planning we have also been doing our own analysis of all our opponents that we're going to meet in the preliminaries, and also just doing a bit of preparation for what might be a possible crossover opponent as well.”
Chauke also believed the key to World Cup success was not to overburden the players and instead wants her team, particularly the youngsters, to express themselves out on the court.
“The youngsters are quite open and fresh. They're open-minded to learning, whether it's playing abroad or having participated in previous World Cups. The newer players bring lots of energy, excitement, and variety in the style of play.
“They bring in their own individual skills and interpretation of the game. We allow them room to be creative and quite innovative with how they go out and carry out the game plan.
“Yes, there is a bit of anxiety and butterflies that come with playing in a World Cup. But we’re looking forward to playing in front of our own people singing home songs, people that speak our language … you know … familiar faces, friends and family coming out to support us. That is a good motivation and obviously you don't want to let anyone down.”
IOL Sport