Taljaard hails 'gifted' Van der Berg as Proteas look to finish as Africa's best

Proteas shooter Nichole Taljaard had only glowing things to say about teammate Elmeré van der Berg on Friday.

Van der Berg starred for the Proteas, scoring 51 goals in South Africa's 72-46 win over Tonga at the Netball World Cup.

The two, along with Ine-Marí Venter, shared the points scoring load at this year's global showpiece, which ends on Sunday.

On Friday, Van der Berg came on in the first quarter after Venter struggled with her accuracy, only making five shots in nine-goal attempts.

The 22-year-old Van der Berg hit nothing but net against the Tonga defence, either from close range or from the baseline of the inside circle.

Van der Berg, who earned player of the match, had a goal-scoring percentage of 94.4 as she shot 51 goals in 53 attempts.

"Elmeré is honestly such a ray of sunshine when she decides she wants to play, no one can stop her no matter the size of the player, no matter the speed she has," Taljaard told News24 after Friday's win.

"She's a gift that just needs to be unwrapped, and I think she has so much potential.

"She hasn't even gone past 50 percent of what she can give the world for South Africa. She is brilliant with how high she can jump and how strong she actually is and then just her accuracy from anywhere in the circle."

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Taljaard, who spends some nights in Van der Berg and Izette Griesel's hotel room snacking, says her goal-shooting dynamic with Van der Berg just works seamlessly.

"I have confidence in myself when I play with her, so it's amazing. I'm able to take shots from a lot further knowing she's under the post and I know I can pass her balls from anywhere on the court," said Taljaard.

"Towards the third and fourth quarter, I was able to release balls a lot quicker to