ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA - OCTOBER 12: The Diamonds and Proteas huddle at the end of the match during the International Test Match in the series between Australia Diamonds and South Africa Proteas at Adelaide Entertainment Centre on October 12, 2025 in Adelaide, Australia. (Photo by Mark Brake/Getty Images)
An audibly frustrated Proteas netball coach Jenny van Dyk said Sunday there was plenty of work to do to get her team up to the standard required to be a competitive force at the highest level internationally.
This after the Proteas succumbed to a 3-0 series defeat by Australia in Adelaide on Sunday.
Van Dyk’s team crashed 65-42, following earlier defeats of 64-53 and 67-40 in the three-match series.
It was the 49th straight win by Australia against South Africa in Tests.
‘It’s not a quick fix’
After a fairly strong start by the Proteas, Australia got into their groove and led 20-11 after the first quarter, and then they took the second quarter 19-9, to lead 39-20 at half-time.
While Van Dyk was full of praise for the Australian effort, saying that “they were twice as hard as New Zealand were”, she said the South Africans needed to out in plenty of work in their game when they returned to the country.
“Congratulations to Australia, they delivered a fantastic performance,” said Van Dyk. “This Australian series was twice as hard as the New Zealand series.
“There were moments when we were on point. I thought we did a good job on attack, but there is a lot of work to do.
“There are a lot of areas and issues that we experienced on court. It’s not a quick fix either; it is something we’re going to have to drill into the players to make sure our execution is better.”
Van Dyk continued: “We learnt a lot about our players [over this series] … who can handle what and who fits in to the type of styles we want to play.
“We will now use the information we got here to get the team ready, and better prepared, for our next challenge.
“We leave here with a lot of questions … but we know exactly where we are at, especially when we are in the pressure situations on the court. But we’re ready for the challenge facing us.”
South Africa went into the series against world champions Australia on the back of a three-nil series defeat to New Zealand.
While the South Africans fought bravely to lose the third Test 57-56, they were well-beaten in the first two matches, going down 77-51 and 70-58.
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