The Roses will take part in their first ever Commonwealth Games final against the Australian Diamonds tomorrow.
Their historic victory against Jamaica this morning means England will be leaving the Gold Coast Games with at least silver medals around their necks.
Like England, the Diamonds are yet to concede a single match in the 2018 Commonwealth Games. With veteran defender Laura Geitz and world-class shooters Caitlin Bassett and Caitlin Thwaites in the mix, Australia are looking strong.
However, so are the England Roses. They may have already made history but golden-girl Helen Housby assures us that the fight isn’t over yet:
“I don’t think that we ever hit our best netball today [against Jamaica].
“We got through it and we won ball and we were clinical when we needed to be but I think there’s so many places where we can pick up and be a bit smarter with the ball.
“But I don’t really care how we did it, we’re into the final now and that’s what we’re going to concentrate on”
The fierce rivalry between the England Roses and world number one’s, Australia is as old as time – with intense clashes that have famously left fans on the edge of their seats.
Notably, England last beat Australia in a 3-0 whitewash in the 2013 Test Series. Since then, they’ve conceded every game, but came within four goals at the January 2018 Quad Series.
The history between these two nations hasn’t favoured the red dress. But the Roses have been defying this history and breaking down barriers throughout their Gold Coast campaign, and they don’t intend to stop now.
Head Coach Tracey Neville beamed with pride following the victory against Jamaica:
“These girls have gone beyond.
“I just said it to them now, as a player I could have only dreamed to have been in this position but I was never good enough and it’s great to live my dream through these girls – they’ve done so well.”
With only one day to recover from their clash against Jamaica, the priority for the Roses is to rest before their gold-medal match says Beth Cobden:
“We’re going to try and calm ourselves down, get lots of food, rest up and lots of sleep between now and tomorrow.
“It’s one of those situations now where you’re in the final so you’ve just got to go and enjoy it.”
England take on Australia in the gold-medal match at 4am (BST) on Sunday morning.
