England Netball begin their Quad Series campaign a week today and are in a buoyant and confident mood ahead of their trip.
The opening match of the series pits England against world no.1s Australia.
The last time the two sides went head-to-head the Roses were ahead after three quarters and dreaming of a famous win.
But the tenacious Samsung Diamonds battled back to snatch a 47-46 win and the Quad Series title.
The previous result, and more importantly the impressive performance, will fill Tracey Neville’s side full of confidence as they look to improve on their third-place finish from February.
Lisa Alexander’s side will be without talismanic defender Sharni Layton but will have the benefit of home advantage in Brisbane.
Can the Roses hold their nerve, get their Quad Series campaign off to the perfect start and silence the home crowd?
Neville’s squad then travel to Auckland to face New Zealand in their second match of the series.
England were stunned by a ruthless and relentless performance from New Zealand back in February.
After the Roses worked tirelessly to get themselves back into contention, the Silver Ferns accelerated in the final quarter to win 61-37.
The netballing powerhouse have proved difficult to topple in recent years and will be roared on by their loyal and vociferous fans in Auckland.
The Roses’ Quad Series quest comes to an end in Invercargill, where they’ll play South Africa.
The Proteas have developed immensely over recent years and continue to close the gap to the top four teams in the world.
History was made when England and South Africa last met as a first ever extra-time in the Netball Quad Series was required to separate the sides.
An eleven goal advantage for the visitors at half-time seemed to have the Roses well on their way to a win, but it took two periods of seven to get the better of their hosts in a breathless and nerve-wracking win.
The Roses certainly won’t underestimate the threat posed by Norma Plummer’s side, which boasts a wealth of experience and talent, including Bongiwe Msomi, Karla Mostert and Lenize Potgieter.
But England will be keen to end their competition on a high and move onto their New Zealand tour off the back of a win.
Find the full list of fixtures below (all times are BST):
Saturday 26th August
Australia v England (Brisbane) – Sky Sports – 6am
New Zealand v South Africa (Brisbane) – 8am
Wednesday 30th August
Australia v South Africa (Canberra) – 10:30am
New Zealand v England (Auckland) – Sky Sports – 8:30am
Sunday 3rd September
New Zealand v Australia (Invercargill) – 5am
England v South Africa (Invercargill) – Sky Sports – 3am
The England Roses squad selected is as follows:
Ama Agbeze (c), Jade Clarke (vice-captain), Joanne Harten (vice-captain), Sara Bayman, Eboni Beckford-Chambers, Eleanor Cardwell, Beth Cobden, Kadeen Corbin, Stacey Francis, Jodie Gibson, Serena Guthrie, Natalie Haythornthwaite, Helen Housby, Geva Mentor, Chelsea Pitman
Reserves: Summer Artman, George Fisher
You can follow the England Roses on tour via our official twitter account @England_Netball and watch every single match LIVE exclusively on Sky Sports.
