England are enjoying a delightful Netball World Cup appearance. For the first time in 48 years, the England Roses will play in the final of the global competition.
The Jess Thirlby-led side spectacularly defeated the 2019 champions, New Zealand to clinch a spot in the final. The last five minutes of the last quarter saw the Roses score six unanswered goals to beat the Silver Ferns 46-40 in the first semifinal of the competition held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.
Thirlby says she is proud of what the team has achieved in this campaign.
“Typically very proud. I am a little bit overwhelmed with what the team has been able to do. I think to win a game in that way is the most satisfying feeling because of our capability on the court from a technical and tactical point of view, I've never questioned that or doubted it.
"I have a 100 per cent belief in it. I think the journey we've been on is how to manage ourselves through momentum in games against the best teams playing at their best. We've certainly learned a lot over some performances coming to the tournament. I think to have a game like yesterday where there were a bit more runs forward against teams that come out and put up but then today, to go goal-for-goal for as long as we did, I think what a fantastic showcase by both teams."
A FOUR-YEAR JOURNEY
The former Team Bath mentor says the journey to the final didn’t only start in the opening match of the 2023 edition. She says getting to the top has been in the works since she took over the reins four years ago.
“When I got the job in August 2019 we had a Zoom call because as you know half the team are never England-based, so it was tricky from the start. One of the things I said was I want to help take this Roses team where it has never gone before and for us, that is being the World Cup final, so it has been four years in the making. It feels brilliant that we have gone on a journey and being patient, whenever people question, or judge, we have held really true to the fact that we’ve been on a brilliant journey. I’d be saying that whether we came here with a narrow loss.
"I think the mentality of this group and the perseverance when the road was ultimately quite bumpy, not having some of our most experienced players early in the cycle but then the benefit of that is we have managed to get more court time and match minutes against the best teams in the world. We wanted to get to the starting line-up of the world with much more depth. I think we’re proving that is working well for us and just incredibly proud that we have made that history,” she says.
The Roses met Malawi, Australia, and New Zealand on their way to the final. Thirlby says that although they knew how to prepare for the Ferns, the game was not as easy.
“I thought New Zealand were excellent. They did what we kind of expected and maybe we struggled at times to really overcome that but mentally we stayed within. I think to end the game of that nature with the run of six just goes to tell you that you just have to stay in the game and it opened up an attack, the defense got what they needed when we needed it most and that's really satisfying,” she says.
SKIPPER GUSCOTH ON THEIR ULTIMATE GOAL
Captain Layla Guscoth says although getting into the final of the competition is a big feat, winning the gold medal is their ultimate goal and improving their performance in the last World Cup. Although Guscoth was part of the Roses team in Liverpool, she got injured in the group-stage match against Scotland and she missed the remainder of the tournament.
“We want a gold medal, we’re happy to be in the final but we want to win. I think we will celebrate now but come dinner we will be focusing on what we have done to get us to this point and what we need to do to get over the line.
"It's been amazing, obviously, 2019 was hugely disappointing for me. I still enjoyed being part of the team then and I enjoyed that 2019 brought us the tournament but being able to be actually part of it up until this stage has been amazing. I didn't realise how hard it was actually five games in five days, I didn't realise that from the last time. It's been incredible and it's such a great group to be here with and it's been a really good tournament,” says Guscoth.