1975 – 4TH WORLD TOURNAMENT (AUCKLAND, NZ)
The 4th World Tournament in Auckland saw the introduction of another netball legend. Norma Plummer played centre for Australia, in what was to be her only tournament as a player, before having double success as coach over 30 years later (2007, 2011).
The entire competition was a hard fought battle between Australia, New Zealand and England. The gutsy English team really threw a spanner in the works when they defeated the Kiwis for the very first time, 39-38. That meant Australia needed only to draw with the hosts on the final day to claim the title. Incredibly, that’s exactly what happened.
It was a classic trans-Tasman contest, full of all sorts of twists and turns, including Plummer taking a dramatic fall on the hard asphalt court. In the end, the two teams couldn’t be separated. 34-34 was the score.
In a crazy forerunner to the events of four years later, had New Zealand managed to score just one more goal and won that final match, there would have been three joint title winners – Australia, New Zealand and England. As it was, England finished second (their best world cup result) and New Zealand third (their equal worst).
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From nwc2015.com.au
