Tom Henigan
England Netball, the Vitality Roses, will face Malawi and South Africa on February 1st and February 2nd in Nottingham. The two games, which will be played at Motorpoint Arena, are part of the Vitality Netball Nations Cup, which concludes on February 9th in London with the final, which is preceded by the third-place playoff. The Roses face Uganda the day before in their last matchup of the first stage. Impact were lucky enough to speak with Beth Cobden, England’s starter at wing defence, to preview the upcoming matches in Nottingham, as well as taking a look her career so far.
Cobden has won the Netball Super League (NSL) five times, as well as being awarded the player of the season in 2021 while being named player of the match in that season’s grand final. But it hasn’t always been easy. Cobden has suffered three ACL injuries throughout her successful career, one when she was 17, another in 2018, and a third in 2019. When asked how she has consistently been able to bounce back, Cobden said that she has been lucky with the great support systems that she had as well as the people around her. Cobden also mentioned how it was important to find things outside of netball that were fulfilling and gave her the same enjoyment.
Cobden was a key part of the England team that beat Australia 52-51 on the Gold Coast
Cobden has had a lot of success in her career, highlighting her Commonwealth Games gold with England in 2018 as the pinnacle. Cobden was a key part of the England team that beat Australia 52-51 on the Gold Coast, a famous win for England netball to this day. There are similarities between that team and this team for the Roses. Back in September, England beat Australia in Australia for the third time ever with the Commonwealth Games victory being one of the other occasions.
That win last September started a successful tour for the Roses. They went on to beat New Zealand in a best of three series, winning the Taini Jamison Trophy for the second time and doing it by winning the first two games of the series, something England had never done before.
When asked about how this team compares to previous England teams she has been a part of, Cobden stressed how less experienced players have stepped up. Lois Pearson and Jess Shaw both collected their first caps in September and Cobden outlined how fearless they were along with other young players such as Olivia Tchine. Cobden mentioned how when she was starting to play for England, they were being comfortably beaten by the likes of Australia and New Zealand but now it is always competitive against those nations, shown by the Roses recent tour.
The whole world stage for netball is becoming more competitive
The Vitality Roses head into the Vitality Nations Cup as the fourth ranked team in the world, and the three teams they are playing are ranked fifth, sixth, and seventh. Speaking about the difference of these set of matches compared to when they played higher ranked teams such as Australia and New Zealand, Cobden said that the whole world stage for netball is becoming more competitive, outlining how Jamaica are also a very strong team at the moment. Cobden spoke about how strong South Africa look at the moment, as well as Uganda who are led by goal shooter, Mary Cholhok.
The Roses star said that there is an expectation on England to win given that they are the highest ranked team, but they know that to do so they will need to bring their A game as it is much more of a level playing field now than in the past. Cobden also highlighted how it will be exciting to play against different styles over these three games as well as the fact that South Africa, the Roses’ second opponent, are looking very strong at the moment. She stressed that England are prepared for these three games coming up and realise that all three teams have a lot they can throw at the Roses. England are of course aiming to win, but they realise that it won’t be easy.
Speaking on the growth of netball in England and how it relates to the Roses’ performance, Cobden acknowledged that it is on them to perform and get the results which will grow the sport. She and the team are aware that better performances mean more sponsorship, as well as more viewers. She went on to say how it is a cycle because the more sponsorships and participants that there are, the better the Roses will perform. Cobden mentioned that netball is the most played female sport in the country but not the most watched and it is about bridging that gap, with previous success such as the 2018 Commonwealth Games gold and second place at the 2023 World Cup, helping massively in that journey.
Cobden spoke about the possibility of netball in the Olympics in the future
Speaking on netball’s appeal globally, Cobden said that it has got a lot better in recent years but there is still a long way to go as the current competing countries would like more than eight of them that give each other a competitive game. Cobden spoke about the possibility of netball in the Olympics in the future and how great that would be for the sport as well as how great it would be if the male side of the sport could grow, as the Roses often benefit from playing England’s male team in training. Cobden also said that it would be great if big sporting nations such as the USA and China got involved with netball, possibly through the Olympics.
We asked Cobden if she had any specific short or long-term goals such as making it to the Commonwealth Games in 2026, or the Netball World Cup in 2027. She said that it would be great to play in both, especially as when she tore her ACL in 2019, she found out that same day about being selected for the World Cup squad. Cobden spoke about how she took herself out of the international programme last year and that she thought international netball wasn’t for her anymore. But she has come back into the fold, now seeing everything as a bonus as she looks to keep fit and achieve her goals of playing at the next two big tournaments, while taking it day by day.
First up for the Vitality Roses is Malawi on Saturday, February 1st at 5pm
If you want to watch England’s games in Nottingham live, you can find tickets here. First up for the Vitality Roses is Malawi on Saturday, February 1st at 5pm at Motorpoint Arena. Then, on Sunday, February 2nd, they will face South Africa at 4pm. After that the Roses have a well-deserved break in the lead up to their final match of the first stage against Uganda in London on Saturday, February 8th at 5pm. Depending on their placing, the Roses will then play either in a third-place play-off on Sunday, February 9th at 1:30pm or in the final later that day at 4pm, with both of those games being in London.
If you can’t make it to any of the matches, you can still cheer on the Vitality Roses on Sky Sports Mix or on Sky Sports YouTube.
Tom Henigan
Featured image courtesy of Morgan Harlow. Permission given to Impact to use from England Netball. No changes were made to this image.
In article image 1 courtesy of @englandnetball via Instagram. No changes were made to this image.?
In article image 2 courtesy of @netballsa via Instagram. No changes were made to this image.?
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