The Sunshine Girls beat the SPAR Proteas 59-54 in the first match of the competition in Nottingham
Wednesday 22 January 2020 14:53, UK
Lisa Alexander, the Australian Diamonds' head coach, hailed the work of Connie Francis and the Sunshine Girls after Jamaica's opening Vitality Nations Cup victory.
Following an incredibly disappointing Netball World Cup competition, and tensions and conflicts after, the quality of Jamaica's output was an unknown quantity heading into this four-nation competition.
However, over the course of their 60-minutes in Nottingham, it was clear that Francis has brought her players together and has helped to restore their confidence.
"I'm thrilled for Connie," Alexander said.
"It's not easy the coaching business and to come back to do this position, particularly with a difficult political situation in Jamaican netball. She's kept that concentration of the players on each other and focused on representing Jamaica."
Francis, like a number of other international head coaches, has represented her nation as a player and is returning for a second period in charge as their head coach.
She previously led the side to a bronze medal at the World Championship in 2007 and Alexander believes that Francis' background is a great asset for the team.
"Connie has represented Jamaica herself and I think that she's really engendered that spirit within the team," she said.
"You can see it out there, with Jhanile Fowler leading the team beautifully and other players like Beckford and Williams really adding to that. It's thrilling to see them out there."
Alexander's Australian Diamonds are not taking to court for this competition and the head coach explained the reasons behind the decision.
"We are not here because we took the decision two years ago for our programme. With our Players Association, we have an arrangement, and agreement with the players, part of that was to have this January off after World Cup," she said.
"So I'm here to spy, there's no other way to say it!
"I'm looking at the opposition, analysing the type of programmes that these players and the coaches are putting out there.
"I'm also doing a little bit of reconnaissance for our Suncorp Super Netball coaches as well with the players who already contracted to those teams."
Sky Sports is your home of netball - every moment of the Vitality Nations Cup is being shown on air and streamed on YouTube. The second match-day is on January 22, with England versus South Africa and New Zealand against Jamaica.
