England outlast New Zealand to reach Netball World Cup final for first time
England dispatched defending champions New Zealand, 46-40, in a thrilling semi-final that sees the Roses advance to their first-ever Netball World Cup final.
Jess Thirlby’s team went toe-to-toe with the Silver Ferns in an unrelenting contest, with a final defensive surge engineered by Fran Williams and Imogen Allison propelling England to a euphoric victory at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.
The heart-stopping game and result, which left Roses players in tears of ecstasy at the end, mean England are guaranteed at least a silver medal from their jaunt in South Africa. They will face the winner of Saturday’s other semi-final between Australia and Jamaica.
England went into their clash against New Zealand with a perfect tournament record and Thirlby, held faith with the starting seven that achieved their historic group-stage victory over Australia.
“This team has had a lot of criticism in the last year, everyone deserves [this] so much,” the Roses co-captain, Layla Guscoth, told Sky afterwards. “We’re so grateful to get the chance to play in a World Cup final … we celebrate, we rest and we come back tomorrow.”
A nervous opening quarter started with the two sides feeling their way into a game riddled with errors early on, clearly an indicator of the weight of the occasion. Neither side seemed prepared to punish as things ticked over goal-for-goal.
A converted intercept by New Zealand’s Karin Burger eventually broke the deadlock, and when a searching feed from Laura Malcolm into Eleanor Cardwell blasted off the backline, the Ferns looked like they might seize control. But the rallying cries of Guscoth inspired a fightback and England found the ball they needed to tie the match 9-9 at the break.
The Roses emerged as the punchier of the two sides at the start of the second quarter. An intercept by centre Allison handed England the advantage, which they dutifully held on to until the final moments of the first half. With the last minute ticking down, England coughed up the ball allowing the Ferns to pull level again.
The exhausting, unrelenting defensive pressure from both teams continued into the second half. No pass went uncontested as the teams traded blows for the majority of the 15 minutes, until goal keeper Kelly Jury’slong arms helped put New Zealand ahead.
England veteran Jade Clarke responded by mustering up her own turnover with under 20 seconds to go, and clutch shooter Helen Housby didn’t hesitate to sink the ball from near the circle edge to leave things 32-32 going into the last quarter.
The compelling contest reached its crescendo in the last four minutes when the ebb and flow of the game was finally brought to a stop. Williams and Allison both intercepted “hail mary” passes, handing England the all-important break and the Roses drove to a six-point victory.
New Zealand, favoured to retain their crown, could only watch on as England players collapsed in shock and celebration. Their historic World Cup campaign in South Africa goes on, with the sound of “Netball’s Coming Home” ringing out in triumph.
