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South Africa Men’s Netball team goal defence Vukile Zulu believes there were clear signs of improvement in the team’s performances, despite suffering a 3–0 series defeat to Australia’s Kelpies in the 2026 Spar Challenge at Ellis Park Arena.
The men’s national team were unable to register a win across the three-match series, but Zulu says facing a high-quality opponent proved valuable in identifying areas for improvement.
Speaking to SABC Sport, Zulu adds that competing against one of the world’s strongest sides has provided crucial lessons as the team continues to build.
"Looking at the overall team performance, I think we did really well and the coach was impressed with the way we performed. Losing the first match with 31 goals, then decreasing the goal margin to 25 goals in the second game, and in the last match we only lost by 11 goals. This means that we decreased the goal margin in every single match which is a positive for sure.
"We learned a lot from this series and we tried our best to implement the structures we've been working on in training."
Despite the series defeat, Zulu was among the standout performers, finishing as one of the tournament’s top four players and walking away with the Best Defence accolade.
He says the recognition is a reward for his hard work and consistency, adding that it motivates him to keep raising his standards at the international level.
Zulu also reflected on his individual performance during the Spar Challenge, highlighting areas he feels he executed well while identifying aspects of his game he hopes to improve on going forward.
"I think I tried my best, and I did manage to steal a few balls from the attackers, but what I'll make sure to fix next time is to make sure I control my own defence and structure them to the way we must defend, and also just to always remind them that they should enjoy the game."
