SPAR Proteas to host England’s Vitality Roses for three-Test netball series in January 2026

The SPAR Proteas will kickstart 2026 with a highly anticipated SPAR Challenge three-Test match series against the Vitality Roses of England in January at the Ellis Park Indoor Arena in Johannesburg.

England has confirmed they will travel to South Africa for the series, scheduled to run from 29 January to 1 February 2026, at the Ellis Park Arena in Johannesburg.

The last time South Africa faced England on home soil was back in 2023 during the quad series in Cape Town, before meeting again later that year at the Netball World Cup at the same venue.

SPAR Proteas head coach Jenny van Dyk has already faced the Vitality Roses twice during the Netball Nations Cup in 2024, securing one win (61–59) and one loss (55–61).

Coach Van Dyk expressed her enthusiasm for the upcoming series: “We are thrilled to host the Vitality Roses for a Test series on home soil this January. We look forward to welcoming fans to this competitive event. The players are hard at work preparing for this challenge and there are a few players that we are looking at that may be brought into the squad come January. The series will also assist us as we begin to build a team for the Commonwealth Games and beyond.”

The English squad is set to arrive in the country two weeks prior to the series commencement.

Building Momentum

As a build-up to the test series, the SPAR Proteas will travel to Lilongwe, Malawi, to compete in the Africa Nations Cup from 8 to 14 December 2025. The SPAR Proteas head into this tournament as African champions and aim to defend their title, using the event as a confidence booster going into the new year.

The team will regroup and assemble for a training camp in early January, where Van Dyk will confirm her final 15-player squad before the tournament commences.

Netball South Africa president, Mami Diale, highlighted the importance of playing against top-ranked nations.

“It took us a while to get here and I’m happy that we have been able to close this and confirm that we will be hosting England on home soil,” Diale stated. “It is always good to play nations that are ranked on top of us and this is important because we really would like to improve our world rankings and move up the ladder.”