Roses beat Sunshine Girls 80-37
The match also saw the return of Nat Metcalf to England after giving birth to daughter earlier this year.
The game saw Fran Williams named Player Of The Match – after the game she spoke about game and Nat’s return
“It’s been so inspiring and I feel privileged to have seen the work that Nat’s put in to getting herself back on court. She works so hard at training but she works even harder at being a mother and showing Miller so much love. She didn’t skip a beat out there today, her usual flip-outs, speed, vision into the circle were all the Nat that we’re all used to seeing. I’m so happy she got out there and fully dominated too. I don’t think it could have gone better for her.”
Nat said: “It feels like it’s been a massive build up to get to this point. I was ambitious in wanting to get back out here and there were so many times, many occasions, I thought, no, it’s going to happen, but the team behind the team got me there and it’s just been amazing.
“My family had been like so supportive, I’m so lucky with the family I’ve got and to be able to have them here today was just so surreal.
“The netball mum community was the inspiration for me when I was pregnant, hearing the mums come up and telling me their story about getting back on court. I wanted to join the club. I wanted to join all the other mums out there that were already doing it and have done it. It’s been really special and I am just really, really happy.”
Reflecting on the game, Fran said: “I think we started really strong in the game which allowed us to get some flow and be really dominant and push on. We were definitely hurt after that final third test against New Zealand and we’ve spoken a lot about needing to show capability of winning and getting into winning positions, but not settling with that and making sure that we’re creating bigger margins and leads and that consistency for 60 minutes.
“It has shown us all that sports has a huge power to play in these horrific moments that you see and I’ve the utmost respect for Jamaica for travelling over at this time with everything going on at home. The fact that they’ve been able to come over here and compete against us in the way they did and bring that level of intensity. It’s a huge honour and a privilege to represent your country, but with everything going on at the moment it had that extra special feel today.
I know England Netball worked really hard with Netball Jamaica to make it as easy as possible and for them to feel as supported as possible in making that trip over. We felt really passionate about doing some relief around using the ticket sales to help fund a cause of their choice and support those at home. It’s definitely felt more than just sport this series.”
Image : Ben Lumley / Supplied to Media by England Netball
