The Proteas fight for place in the semi-finals came to a disappointing end at the Netball World Cup on Thursday night.
The narrow 52-50 win over Uganda was nowhere near enough to see them leap frog New Zealand to make the last four.
Now they shift their focus to their fixture against Tonga, a win will see them contest for the 5th/6th finish on Sunday at 11am. A loss would see them have to fight it out for the 7th/8th place on Sunday morning at 9am.
There’s been talk that Proteas coach Norma Plummer will say goodbye to the team after this tournament.
But Sunday might not be the 78-year-old’s last game as South Africa’s coach.
Plummer’s says she could oversee the team for their series against Australia, but she says she isn’t likely to coach the team past December.
Right not she hopes stalwarts of the game such as captain Bongi Msomi, Phumza Maweni, Karla Pretorius and Izette Griesel all get into coaching when their playing career finishes.
“Blanche de la Guerre (CEO of Netball SA) said you gotta go round for another four (years) and I said I will be in a wheelchair by then, rolling round the block!“
“It’s been an honour to have these girls like Bongi, Phumza, Karla and Izette ... who have been with me on the journey since 2015.
“I hope they they get into coaching, (Karin) Burger is there, Boh (Msomi) is coaching now and Phumza is doing some coaching.
“I just hope that they become the future coaches, they’ve got the knowledge of what it takes. it really does take a lot of work and how to handle pressure in situations.”
@AliciaPillay56