England level series with win against South Africa

England have levelled their three-game series with South Africa at 1-1 with a 61-49 win in front of a sellout crowd in Johannesburg.

The Roses were defeated in the first match on Thursday but in the second Test were able recover from a seven-goal deficit in the second quarter to only trail by one goal at half-time.

England began to take control of the contest after the break and were rewarded with an eight-goal advantage heading into the final quarter. South Africa failed to stage a comeback following their strong start as England capitalised on their hosts’ errors.

Captain Fran Williams, who produced two key interceptions in the third quarter and was named player of the match, said England “showed such composure”.

Williams added: “I loved the way we played that last quarter. We didn’t do anything too flashy, we were happy to sit in that goal-for-goal knowing we’d done the work and it was the smarts that got us over the line.”

However, the 28-year-old feels the Roses are “going to need to step it up a gear” in order to beat the Proteas in the final match.

England coach Jess Thirlby made several changes to her starting seven following the opening defeat, with the likes of Helen Housby at goal attack, Lois Pearson moving to wing attack and Williams at wing defence.

She thought her side “were smarter with the ball, moved it a little bit better around some excellent defence”.