Netball Proteas coach Plummer not a fan of complicated World Cup format

Not one to mince her words, Spar Proteas coach Norma Plummer is not a fan of the present Netball World Cup format that had everyone confused before the preliminary stage 2 starting on Monday. 

According to the complicated format, which was introduced for the 2019 Netball World Cup in Liverpool, 16 teams compete in the preliminary stages 1 and 2, play-offs and final placings. 

After the loss to Jamaica on Sunday, Plummer was as confused as most people because she was under the impression the Proteas would be up against defending champions New Zealand on Monday. 

It turned out South Africa take on unpredictable Trinidad and Tobago on Monday (6pm), followed by matches against New Zealand on Wednesday and Uganda on Thursday.

The Proteas go into the second preliminaries stage with a disadvantage because of their loss to Jamaica, who carry over their result, which effectively means South Africa will have to beat Trinidad and Tobago, New Zealand and Uganda. 

At the same time, the Proteas will be hoping Jamaica and New Zealand get unfavourable results to sneak into the semifinals as one of the top two teams. 

Plummer said she prefers a strength vs strength format where teams are separated in a top and bottom eight. 

“I said it the other day, I would like to see a top and bottom eight. Bottom eight play for a Shield because you get these scores of 110-20, and who wants to look at that?” she said after her team suffered their first loss of the tournament at the hands of Jamaica at Cape Town International Convention Centre on Sunday (67-49). 

“That doesn’t give these small teams anything to strive for. If you have the top eight, where you play everybody, you will find games like the one between us and Jamaica and that to me will lift the game up a notch for people to watch and enjoy. 

“But it will give teams in the bottom eight bracket an opportunity for promotion so that they can move up. I also think they should strive to have a Shield Cup or something [to that effect]. 

“For me, you need all the top teams playing against one another, where No 1 and 2 play for gold medal and [No] 3 and 4 for the bronze medal and all the others go into the rankings. It is still 16 teams. But this is just my idea — and I am not on World Netball.” 

Proteas captain Bongiwe Msomi said even though they lost to Jamaica, their hopes in the World Cup are still alive. 

“What I know is we play against Trinidad and Tobago on Monday and I think after that it is Uganda and New Zealand and from those matches the top two go into the semifinals.  

“That’s why I said we are disappointed from the result against Jamaica, but the tournament doesn’t stop today. Anything that happens from now really depends on what we do on the day of the match. 

“If you are good enough on the day of the match, you are good. In the first half of our game against Jamaica, we really thought we could take on anyone. 

“We had a disappointing third quarter but we finished a bit stronger because they made changes. We can look back and look at how we performed better at certain stages and also what is coming in front of us and see where we finish.” 

Monday’s Fixtures 

• 9am: Australia v Scotland, Zimbabwe v Barbados 
• 11am: Wales v New Zealand, Fiji v Malawi 
• 4pm: Jamaica v Uganda, Si Lanka v Singapore 
• 6pm: South Africa v Trinidad and Tobago, Tonga v England 

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