Australia held their ground despite a concerted challenge from South Africa, the reigning world champs retaining their dominance with a 64-53 victory over the Spar Proteas in Bendigo, Australia, on Saturday, 4 October 2025.
Stark contrasts between the teams set the scene, with SA coming into the opening Test match with ten Test matches under their belt in 2025, while the Australian Diamonds were playing their first international of the year, but the big fact remained that Australia are yet to taste defeat in the 46 encounters between the nations.
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The Proteas took to court Saturday knowing that they needed to put their best foot forward to achieve what they had never done before, which is to beat the current world champions.
While the Aussie Diamonds were the first to get on the scoring board, going three points clear in the opening few minutes of the opening quarter, South Africa were very patient to execute their game plan, and it was not long before they levelled up.
“To be honest, it wasn’t a bad game for us as South Africa. Taking on the best in the world is never an easy task, but we did it.”
Spar Proteas Head Coach, Jenny van Dyk
The visitors showed real character and showed up for every pass – they displayed grit and resilience; they kept giving as much as they got. At the end of the first quarter, the two were locked at 14 points each.
With both teams level at the start of the second quarter, the Aussie Diamonds ramped up their attack and made sure to pull away from the Proteas, while restricting them from scoring as many goals.
A quick four goals at the start of the quarter within three minutes shook the South Africans, and that surge by Australia gave their home team the advantage throughout the rest of the match. As both teams went to half-time, it was Australia who were leading 34-26.
Coach van Dyk made a few changes going into the third quarter with the introduction of Owethu Ngubane and Sanmarie Visser in place of Khanyisa Chawane and Shadine van der Merwe.
South Africa seemed to have been more determined to play catch-up – Van der Merwe was brought back into the match halfway through the quarter, and at the end of the quarter, the Proteas had scored 15 goals in response to Diamonds’ 16. The overall score after 45 minutes was 50-41 to Australia.
With Tarle Mathe’s legs growing tired, Coach van Dyk brought in Refiloe Nketsa in the centre to strengthen the mid-court. Australia kept applying the pressure on the Proteas, making sure to keep peeling away from South Africa and eventually won the opening match 64-53.
“Our first quarter was good, and everything that went wrong for us was in the second quarter,” said Coach van Dyk.
“We lost the third quarter by a single point, which demonstrated good game performance from our end. We know that we can be competitive as a team, there is a lot of improvement from our end. Our aim with the next match is to win; we do not just compete.”
2025 Australia vs South Africa 3-Test Series Fixtures and Results
Sat, 4 Oct: Australia 64-53 South Africa (Red Energy Stadium, Bendigo)
Wed, 8 Oct, 10:30: Australia vs South Africa (Wollongong Entertainment Centre, Wollongong)
Sun, 12 Oct, 07:30: Australia vs South Africa (Adelaide Entertainment Centre, Adelaide)
First Test Quarterly Score Breakdown
Q1: South Africa 14-14 Australia
Q2: South Africa 26-34 Australia
Q3: South Africa 41-50 Australia
Q4: South Africa 53-64 Australia
Spar Proteas Starting VII for the First Test Match
GS – Élmere van der Berg
GA – Kamogelo Maseko
WA – Khanyisa Chawane (c)
C – Tarle Mathe
WD – Shadine van der Merwe
GD – Jamie van Wyk
GK – Nicola Smith
Shooting Stats
Élmere van der Berg 37/42 (88%)
Kamogelo Maseko 11/59 (73%)
Owethu Ngubane 5/7(71.4%)
Original Copy: Netball SA, with editing by gsport
Main Photo Caption: Australia held their ground despite a concerted challenge from South Africa, but the reigning world champs retained their dominance with a 64-53 victory over the Spar Proteas in Bendigo, Australia, on Saturday, 4 October 2025. All Photos: Lauren Morgan/Netball Australia
Photo 2 Caption: SA goal shooter Élmere van der Berg succeeded with 37 of her 42 shots for an 88% accuracy, and the best success rate by the visitors.
Photo 3 Caption: Centre Tarle Mathe pictured in action for the Proteas, who will face Australia in a second Test in Wollongong on Wednesday.
