Auckland 1975
Key Statistics
Champions: Australia (3rd title)
Runners Up: England
Dates: August 22 – September 4, 1975
Venue: Windmill Road Courts (Outdoors)
Host City/Country: Auckland, New Zealand
Number of Teams: 11
Matches Played: 55
Number of Goals Scored: 4,730
Overview
Australia retain World Champions status
The 4th staging of the Netball World Cup took place in New Zealand for the very first time. 11 teams made the trip to Auckland, where Australia would become the first team to successfully defend their title.
Dealing with the Elements
With the games being held outdoors the conditions the players had to deal with back then was slightly different to today’s elements. Playing in the rain and wind provided a different challenge all together, especially for the shooters who had to compete against the elements as well as the oppositions defenders. Some of the shooters used to practice by dunking the ball in water so they would become accustomed to playing with a heavy, wet and slippery ball.
The last three editions of the event up until this point had been a two-horse race between Australia and New Zealand, however, a strong England side made this the closest edition of the tournament so far.
England defeated the hosts New Zealand 39-38 which put them in contention, however, a 41-36 defeat to Australia made it advantage to the defending champions. The title was eventually decided after Australia drew 34 all with New Zealand on the final day of the competition.
Among the Australian squad was Norma Plummer, who made her first and only appearance at a Netball World Cup as a player in this competition. Norma would however, go on and become one the sports best known coaches and led the Australian Diamonds from 2004 to 2011, picking up two more World Cup titles in the process, before coaching South Africa too.
Final Standings
1st – Australia
2nd – England
3rd – New Zealand
4th – Trinidad & Tobago
5th – Jamaica
=6th – Scotland
=6th – Wales
8th – Fiji
9th – Northern Ireland
10th – Singapore
11th – Papua New Guinea
