England to face New Zealand in Netball World Cup semi-final

England's netballers will face New Zealand in the semi-finals of the World Cup on Saturday after a 62-46 victory against South Africa earned Tracey Neville's team a place in the last four.

The winners of that game will likely take on holders, hosts and tournament favourites Australia in the final in Sydney on Sunday.

The England Roses had been tipped by many as the side most likely to topple the Diamonds, but they will go into the semi-final as underdogs, having lost to Australia earlier in the week, while new-look New Zealand remain undefeated in the tournament.

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Neville's team will also be aware that the semi-final set-up is identical to that of last year's Commonwealth Games, which ended in heartbreak for the Roses. On that occasion England lost their semi against New Zealand by a single point and were then beaten by Jamaica in the bronze medal play-off.

Revenge will not come easily. The Silver Ferns ended their qualification campaign with an emphatic 76-33 win over Uganda, and will be full of confidence against England after beating Australia in the first round of matches.

England, who lost to Australia earlier in the week, had to beat South Africa, ranked sixth in the world, to book their place in the last four. Although the final score looked comfortable it was not plain sailing for the Roses, who at one stage in the first quarter trailed by four points.

"Although the South Africans matched England goal for goal early on, England's rugged defence, through-court ball-speed and unerring accuracy gradually wore them down," says AAP.

It was not England's best performance of the tournament, says Sky Sports, which singles out the work of Jade Clarke and Serena Guthrie in mid-court and the shooting of Jo Harten, who registered 35 goals in the 62-46 win.

Having made it to the last four "Neville and her squad will have rest on their minds with a quick turnaround before Saturday's semi-final", says Sky.

Australia, who remain the favourites despite their surprise defeat to New Zealand, will face Jamaica in the other semi-final, although the Sunshine Girls, ranked four in the world, suffered a major scare in their final pool match as they beat Malawi by just one point in what the Sydney Morning Herald calls "arguably the game of the tournament".

Netball World Cup: England suffer Australia backlash

11 August

England suffered their first loss of the Netball World Cup as they were beaten 51-41 by Australia, the hosts, reigning champions and tournament favourites, in Sydney.

Tracey Neville's team were outmuscled by The Diamonds, who were determined to bounce back after an unexpected defeat against the New Zealand in the previous round. That result ended Australia's 21-match winning run and was described as a "reality check, a wake-up call and a kick up the bum" by the Sydney Morning Herald.

It also set up the clash with England in the second round, and it was clear the Diamonds were in no mood to lose a second successive game on home soil.

"From a faster, more urgent start, to a relentless push through the last quarter, improvements were obvious all over the court from the chastened top seeds," says the SMH. "It was a strong rebound performance from the Australians, who were stung by a rare defeat... and are now firmly back on course for a third successive world title and 11th overall."

England had been tipped by many as Australia's main challengers this year, but could not keep pace with their hosts, and now face a tougher route to the final with a semi-final against New Zealand looming.

"England struggled to find an accurate feed to their shooters in the first half of the game and Australia's Renae Hallinan at Wing Defence and Julie Corletto at Goal Defence were dominant against the England attack," reports Sky Sports.

"The defeat doesn't spell the end for England though. With two qualification round games yet to play – against Wales and South Africa – the Roses can set up a semi-final berth against New Zealand on Saturday with two wins."

Netball World Cup: can England beat champions Australia?

11 August

England face Australia in the second round of the Netball World Cup in Sydney today hoping to pile more sporting misery on the Australians.

The Diamonds from Down Under are the hosts, reigning champions and the dominant force in world netball but have already suffered a shock defeat at the hands of New Zealand in the opening group stage. That means Australia and England find themselves in the same pool for the second round, in which the top eight teams play round robin games to determine the four semi-finalists.

England are the only nation apart from New Zealand with a realistic hope of toppling Australia and victory would give Tracey Neville's team a significant boost in their march towards the semi-finals, where outsiders Jamaica are expected to make up the numbers.

Coach Neville is the sister of footballers Gary and Phil Neville and the whole squad has been stunned by the death of her father, Neville Neville, on the eve of the tournament. He died of a heart attack in Sydney after flying out to watch his daughter's team in action.

Tracey has defended her decision to stay with the team. "My dad was one of my number one fans and probably would have a thing to say if I'd bailed at this stage," she told the BBC. "You don't get this far and then bail out. That's not been the mentality of me or my family throughout our careers."

England captain Geva Mentor told Sky Sports that coach Neville had shown "courage and strength" since her father's death and said that here commitment has "inspired" the whole squad.

So can England go on to win the tournament?

Before the tournament The Guardian identified England as "Australia's greatest threat" and claimed they "present a better side on paper than the Kiwis". Now they must take inspiration from the Kiwis.

New Zealand controversially dropped shooter Catherine Latu from the squad to develop a "faster, riskier more dynamic attacking game", says the Guardian. It paid off against the champions, but England will still be hopeful of securing a place in the final.

"There's a serious buzz around the England camp," says the Daily Telegraph. "While usually the Netball World Cup is contested between the two Antipodean giants of the sport, Australia and New Zealand, this time round many are tipping the world number three team as the biggest threat to the home nation."

Key to England's chances is captain and goal keeper Geva Mentor, says the BBC. She was voted the best netballer in the world in 2014 and will feature in her fourth championship and is one of six players aged over 30.

Talking to The Times, Mentor said: "England players no longer fear Australian or New Zealand players and we all have confidence and self-belief which didn't exist before."

The paper notes that several of the England squad now play semi-professionally in Australia and New Zealand's trans-Tasman ANZ league, and adds that "the squad will never have a better opportunity to realise their dreams".

Victory would provide another massive boost for women's sport.

"Sport England's phenomenally successful This Girl Can campaign combined with the Back To Netball push to get adults playing the game has created a real momentum in women's sport," says the Telegraph.

"Our female cricketers are defending The Ashes; our women's rugby team won the World Cup and then of course, there were the Lionesses, dribbling their way into people's consciousness at the women's football World Cup just a few weeks ago. Women's sport – relegated previously to obscure Sky channels and bad pub jokes – is having a moment."

Australia v England: 11.15am, Tuesday 11 Ausgust, Sky Sports 4