Spar Proteas relishing pre-Games test

Spar Proteas coach Dorrette Badenhorst is relishing the opportunity to work on team combinations and fine-tune their preparations for the upcoming Commonwealth Games with a Test series against Wales.

The team travelled to Cardiff on Monday ahead of two matches against Wales on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Both nations will be using these games as preparation for Commonwealth Games, which kick off next Thursday, 28 July and run until Monday 8 August.

The two test matches are not just friendly international but also serve as a world ranking series, which could see changes to South Africa's fifth-place and Wales' eighth-place on the standings.

œIt has been good for us to have all the players in camp with us in Stellenbosch, we had our international players back as well, so we were able to get together and train as a unit. We worked well with all the players both on and off court," said Badenhorst.

"I can safely say that preparations for the Commonwealth Games are going very well. The last time we were all together was in January during the Quad Series."

As earlier revealed by SABC Sport, the Proteas have also welcomed back former coach Norma Plummer and former assistant Nicole Cusack as coaching mentor and shooting coach respectively.

"The inclusion of Norma Plummer and Nicole Cusack is also great because Nicole is working closely with our shooters and Norma is mentoring the coaching panel," said Badenhorst.

"Our preparations for the Wales test series are going very well and this is another chance for us to prepare for the Commonwealth Games and get some game time ahead of this tournament. It has been especially important for us to get together, compete together, settle combinations, and get the team ready."

South Africa and Wales have met sixteen times and the Proteas are yet to lose a match against their opponents.

By Web Admin