Being home favourites when hosting any sporting competition is a luxury for the a team like South Africa at the Netball World Cup.
So far the Proteas have seen sold out crowds in their first two group matches and the tournament and Norma Plummer’s team has so far delivered with their exciting performances and results.
The favourites tag is not something that has left their next opponents Jamaica with any sort of trepidation but rather the opposite.
The Sunshine Girls have also got a perfect record so far in the competition with a opening win over Sri Lanka and following it up with a victory against Wales on Sunday.
No doubt they will hoping to keep it that way when they take on South Africa at the Cape Town International Convention Centre at 6pm on Sunday.
Shamera Sterling, who was voted as player of the match against Wales, says they aren’t deterred by the overwhelming support for the South Africans.
“We are used to having a huge crowd, even though it’s not in our favour. So I think that it will be fine because we have girls that have been playing on the international stage and know what the crowd is like. So I think that we will be okay,” Sterling said.
Jamaica’s assistant coach Rob Wright says they know it won’t be easy taking them on the Proteas as well as a vocal crowd, but his team are certainly up for the challenge.
“Like South Africa we are an incredibly strong side. To me it’s about making sure we work on what we need to keep refining from the first two games,” Wright said.
“We did a lot of things right, but we certainly picked up some things that we just need to twist. We will go back and work on those because we will have to raise our game again. M
“Not only will we be facing the South African team, but the crowd is going to be completely in favour of South Africa, so that will be a real test for us, I’m looking forward to it.”