Plenty of Team Bath links past and present as England beat South Africa to bronze medals at 2020 Vitality Netball Nations Cup

Former Team Bath Netball stars Stacey Francis and Kadeen Corbin helped England Netball secure bronze medals in the 2020 Vitality Netball Nations Cup with an exciting 65-63 victory over South Africa.

New Blue & Gold mid-courter Khanyisa Chawane started for the SPAR Proteas in Sunday’s third-place play-off at London’s Copper Box Arena, which saw the Roses – coached by former Team Bath player and coach Jess Thirlby – hold off a fierce fightback to finish the tournament on a high.

It was England’s second victory of the week over a South Africa squad that also included past Team Bath players Karla Pretorius, Lenize Potgieter and Zanele Vimbela.

The Roses were beaten 64-48 by World Champions and eventual tournament winners New Zealand in their opening round-robin match and narrowly missed out on a place in the final after a 70-66 defeat to Jamaica, who had warmed up for the Nations Cup by facing Team Bath in a practice match.

University of Bath student Sophie Drakeford-Lewis, who is supported by a King Scholarship, gained more exposure to top-level international netball as a member of the England squad.

She will return to training with the Blue & Gold this week as the countdown to the 2020 Vitality Superleague season enters its last month, with Team Bath’s season opener against Loughborough Lightning taking place on February 22.

The first home match of the season against Wasps is a sell-out but there are eight more opportunities to watch the Blue & Gold at the Team Bath Arena during 2020 – click here to see the full fixture list and purchase tickets.

Team Bath Netball is partnering with local charity Sporting Family Change in 2020 to help make a difference through sport. Centurion Chartered Financial Partners are Team Bath’s people development partner and Rengen Developments also support the netball programme as part of their overall partnership with Team Bath.