Captain Proscovia faces familiar foes in South Africa

Peace Proscovia

Uganda last defeated South Africa at the 2011 All-Africa Games in Maputo, Mozambique. After that 56-35 triumph in the preliminaries, the She Cranes went on to claim gold.
But the two teams have since taken divergent routes and it is going to be a completely different ball game today as they meet in the second preliminary stage in Group G at the Netball World Cup.
Centre Ruth Meeme and Peace Proscovia are the only surviving members of that golden She Cranes team but more than any Ugandan player captain Proscovia (pic inset) seems to have the vital of knowledge of how to handle the opposition.
Out of experience, Proscovia has played with the three of South Africa’s key players. Already, she must be briefing forwards Stella Oyella, Mary Nuba, Racheal Nanyonga, among others, on how to beat defenders Maweni Phumza and Karla Pretorius, her teammates in Sunshine Lightning, the Australia’s Suncorp Super Netball League champions. Likewise, the duo are plotting how to stop Proscovia’s frontline.
Goal attacker Maryka Holtzhausen, 32, the first South African
to gather 100 caps, was also Proscovia’s teammate in Loughborough Lightning, in the English Super League.
The three have been part of the teams that tormented Uganda in the previous two meetings. Phumza, 34, and Karla, 29, are some of the most experienced Proteas and played the entire 60 minutes as South Africa beat Uganda 52-43 at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast.
Holtzhausen scored 14 of 17 shots as in South Africa’s 50-40 win over Uganda at the 2015 World Cup in Sydney, Australia. She scored 11 of 12 in Gold Coast.
At the current edition in Liverpool, Holtzhausen, 32, is not as clinical, having scored 49 of 64 attempts, but she can give Proscovia’s teammates a tough challenge.
The other South African familiar with Proscovia is captain Bongiwe Msomi. The defender, who also plays center, was her league opponent when Proscovia was at Loughborough and Msomi at Surrey Storms. Currently at Wasps, she also had a stint in the Australian league with Adelaide. However, Proscovia and co. face a mountain in Lenize Potgieter, 25, who scored 36 of 38 attempts against Uganda in Sydney 2015. The towering shooter scored 30 of 30 against Scotland Monday and is among the leading scorers in Liverpool, with an enviable 141 goals in 146 shots so far.