Tracey Neville claims her England Roses 'learnt a lot' from the recent Quad Series
"We also learnt a lot about us as a coaching group and how we can work more effectively together building into that World Cup."
Sunday 10 February 2019 09:27, UK
England head coach Tracey Neville claims that she 'learnt a lot' about her Vitality Roses squad after they fell agonisingly short of winning a first Quad Series title last month.
The Roses recorded a thrilling 52-49 victory over the world-leaders - the Australian Diamonds - in their final match of the series, but having suffered defeat to South Africa earlier in the competition, they fell just short of the five-goal margin required to scoop the title.
Nevertheless, the memorable victory over Australia has left spirits high in the England camp ahead of a home Netball World Cup in July, and Neville believes the series was a valuable learning experience for both players and coaches.
"I think that it was really important [to beat Australia] particularly coming off the back of a disappointing loss to South Africa," Neville said.
"As a team we got a lot of learnings from the Quad Series. It's something that we wanted to go out and win, we didn't actually achieve that.
"However, we did learn a lot about our individual players, about our squad and we also learnt a lot about us as a coaching group and how we can work more effectively together building into that World Cup."
Neville was speaking after watching her former side Manchester Thunder extend their unbeaten start to the Vitality Superleague season with a 62-47 win over new franchise London Pulse on Monday.
The England head coach was eager to keep an eye on a number of players with April's selection for the Netball World Cup in mind, as new shooter Eleanor Cardwell impressed for Thunder.
Pulse's Ama Agbeze took a tumble in the third and didn't return for the final quarter as Thunder raced to victory in the closing stages, but Neville believes there were positives to take for Pulse, who have lost three of their opening four fixtures.
"I did see something that can be developed and I feel that [Te Aroha] Keenan has always been one that's really invested in her squad and really wants to take it forwards," Neville said.
"There is a match-winning quarter in every game and at this level you expect to challenge the scoreboard. It's just which team can flow on that momentum.
"However, I do think that there were some real strengths of that game, the way that they beat Thunder when they bodied on Almond and shut her down, and limited her space.
"I do think that their defence was really impressive. I think they were winning and gaining opportunities."
The Roses, and players from all of the nations in the Quad Series, have now returned back to their domestic clubs and are continuing their personal preparations for July's Netball World Cup in Liverpool.
England's World Cup campaign gets underway against the Uganda She Cranes on the opening day - Friday, July 12 - and the Quad Series was their last opportunity to compete together on the international stage ahead of this summer's showpiece.
Watch more Vitality Netball Superleague action as Wasps Netball host Saracens Mavericks on Monday, February 11 live on Sky Sports Mix from 6.45pm. Also, Sky Sports will be showing every game of the 2019 Vitality Netball World Cup in July.
