2023 Netball World: 'We shall be playing against eight people - She Cranes' Mugerwa ahead of South African tie

Margret Baagala in action against New Zealand at the 2023 Netball World Cup

NETBALL 2023 Netball World: 'We shall be playing against eight people - She Cranes' Mugerwa ahead of South African tie

Clive Kyazze • 11:14 - 03.08.2023

She Cranes head coach Fred Mugerwa knows that their last 2023 Netball World Cup Group F game against South Africa will pit them against seven players and the entire nation.

She Cranes head coach Fred Mugerwa knows that their last 2023 Netball World Cup Group F game against South Africa will pit them against seven players and the entire nation.

She Cranes are aiming at a win that will seal a third-place finish ahead of the classification games, while South Africa badly wants to win to seal a semifinal finish.

"We shall be playing against eight people," Muegrwa told Pulse Sports after his sides defeated Wales 73-56 on Wednesday at the Cape Town Conventional Centre.

"They have the crowd. I will tell the players not to care about the crowd, block out the noise and play their own game."

"If they follow those instructions, we can manage because we still have the upper hand because we have ever managed to beat them, so everything is possible," Mugerwa added.

The She Cranes defeated South Africa at the 2023 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, UK, 54-48 to finish fifth.

Defender Shaffie Nalwanja, one of the few survivors from that team, believes the pressure is immense to make it two out of two.

"There is still pressure because South Africa is an excellent team, and since they are at home, they have that home advantage, so we just need to come out really strong for us to get that win," Nalwanja added.

The She Cranes will be aiming to win number four from six games as they try to better their performance from four years ago when they finished seventh.

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