Africa Netball Cup title defence hones Proteas for England series and Commonwealth Games

The Spar Proteas are gearing up for the defence of their Africa Netball Cup title in Malawi next month, and will kickstart 2026 with a three-match Test series against England’s Roses in Johannesburg, as they ramp up their Commonwealth Games preparations.

The world’s fifth-ranked Proteas have already faced the fourth-ranked Roses twice during the Netball Nations Cup in England this year, beating them 61-59 in the round-robin matches, before losing 61-55 in the final of a tournament that also featured Malawi and Uganda.

They are fresh off a recent tour Down Under where they faced New Zealand and world No 1 Australia in challenging back-to-back Test series.

The last time South Africa faced England at home was back in 2023 during the Quad Series in Cape Town, before facing them again during the Netball World Cup in the same year at the same venue.

“We are thrilled to host the Roses for a Test series on home soil this January,” said Jenny van Dyk, the Proteas head coach. "We look forward to welcoming fans to this competitive event.

"The players are hard at work preparing for this challenge and there are a few players that we are looking at that may be brought into the squad come January. The series will also assist us as we begin to build a team for the Commonwealth Games and beyond

The two nations will play each other between January 29 and February 1 at Ellis Park Indoor Arena, with the English set to arrive in the country two weeks earlier.

In the build-up to this series, the Proteas will travel to Lilongwe in Malawi to compete in the Africa Netball Cup from December 8-14 and will be hoping that a strong title defence will set them up for the new year.

They will assemble for a camp early in January in preparation for the series, when Van Dyk will confirm her final 15-player squad.

“It took us a while to get here and happy that we have been able to close this and confirm that we will be hosting England on home soil,” said Netball South Africa president Mami Diale.

"It is always good to play nations that are ranked on top of us. We really would like to improve our world rankings and move up the ladder."

The Proteas have faced all four teams ranked above them this year – Jamaica, England, Australia and New Zealand – as they push for a podium finish at next year’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland.

SA are grouped with Australia, England, Malawi, Tonga, and Northern Ireland in Pool A. New Zealand, Jamaica, Wales, Uganda, Scotland, Trinidad & Tobago make up Pool B.

They start that tournament with a match against Malawi at the Hydro on July 25.