On Thursday the Proteas had to beat Uganda by 64 goals or more to send the defending champions, New Zealand crashing out, however the She Cranes put up a big fight against the world's fifth ranked team.

South Africa managed to beat Uganda 52-50 in what was a thrilling game of netball.

At one stage the Proteas played at a high tempo and intencity and it looked as if they may just be able to pull off the huge task of cutting out the goal difference, however, the respone of the team from East Africa was simply outstanding and they truly stood their ground.

The captain Bongi Msomi said their performance was more disappointing than not reaching the last four.

“At halftime it felt like we still had a chance,” said the influential captain.

“You always have a chance until you don’t have.

“At this stage it’s disappointing, but we have to focus on keeping our ranking because Uganda is really good.

“If we are going to come up against them again, they are going to come hard.”

The Proteas will face Tonga at 18:00 on Friday evening, while tomorrow in the semi-finals England will face the Silver Ferns, and Jamaica will take on Australia. 

Morgan Piek OFM Sport