Netball: SA tap into Plummer's expertise

Former Australian coach Norma Plummer will face the Silver Ferns with a new opponent. Photo / Kenny Rodger

The Silver Ferns might be facing an unfamiliar opponent, but there will be a very familiar face sitting on the opposing sideline.

Former Australian coach Norma Plummer has taken over the South African side in the lead-up to next month's World Cup, with the 70-year old having had her share of memorable transtasman clashes against the Silver Ferns.

Plummer admits she's surprised at the nature of her return to the international coaching stage, which sees her South African squad clash with the Silver Ferns in two test matches over the next three days, starting at Claudelands Arena in Hamilton tonight.

"I was more or less going into semi-retirement, but I was working with international coaches all round the world and South Africa had kept in contact with me about [whether] I could come over at some stage. It just came out of the blue. I wasn't expecting to be coaching at the world champs," Plummer told Radio Sport.

"It was probably about five weeks ago I got a phone call and they [asked if] I would take them to the world champs.

"So I had to fly out straight away because they had a Diamond Challenge series on. I didn't even know the girls' names."

The two-time world championship-winning coach is now facing a vastly different coaching experience as she tries to improve her squad just weeks before the World Cup begins.

"You can't put a team together with all the polish in three weeks — not compared to four years — but what we're working on is just the major areas and trying to make sure they're skilled up in that. There's the small technical stuff which will probably be amiss because we won't have had time to work on that, but we need to get them on the court and get them balanced and being competitive."

Plummer's reign has started promisingly, with her first games in charge seeing the Proteas go unbeaten at the Diamond Challenge when they notched two wins over African rivals Malawi, their first since 2012.

Now, they have a much tougher challenge against the Silver Ferns who looked in promising form in their 91-31 win over Fiji earlier this week and Plummer believes her squad have nothing to lose as they shape up for their two-test series against the Ferns — a team South Africa haven't taken on since 2012.

"To be honest, I think the Ferns have probably got more [pressure] on them than us. We can just go in and put two and two together on some of the areas we've worked on and hopefully they can come off.

"Regardless of outcomes here, it's about the intensity and getting players very aware of what it's going to be like when they walk in the door at the World Cup, so we didn't back away from it.

"We're happy for the competition."

The Silver Ferns have revamped their squad as they look to provide a stronger challenge for Australia at the World Cup, something Plummer supports.

"I thought some changes had to happen. Whatever was there before clearly wasn't working. It's amazing what [young players] can do for you when they have quality around them. They can actually step up, so I think the Ferns can still be way up there."