England secure series against Uganda with victory in second Test at Copper Box Arena

England's Vitality Roses secured the series against Uganda with a 53-45 victory in the second Test at London's Copper Box Arena on Saturday.

Jess Thirlby's outfit only led by a single goal at half-time. They had held a four-goal lead after the first 15 minutes but again struggled in the second quarter and were pulled back to 24-23 at the interval.

England regrouped well after half-time with a number of London Pulse players excelling on their home court during the third quarter. The team will now prepare for the final match of the series, live on Sky Sports on Sunday.

Uganda's head coach Fred Mugerwa named an unchanged starting seven from Wednesday's Test. England also opted to largely stick with the same seven they had deployed in Nottingham.

The exception for the Roses was Chelsea Pitman being rewarded with a start at wing attack in place of Hannah Joseph. Co-captains Laura Malcolm and Imogen Allison also switched bibs in centre court.

Both teams displayed a few early nerves, neither took the ball particularly fluidly through to goal and Eleanor Cardwell uncharacteristically missed a couple of easy shots.

The Roses stuck to their task, though, and moved 6-3 up midway through the quarter. On account of her 40th cap, Pitman took control in attack as Sandra Nambirige struggled to contain her and England stayed focused to hold a four-goal lead at the first pause.

In the first Test in Nottingham, England lost the second quarter 17-9 and neither side made changes for the second set of 15 minutes in London.

From the outset, the Roses pressured every one of the She Cranes' passes but didn't gain significant profit from their work. In attack, their output wasn't the cleanest either and after six minutes, Thirlby made changes at both ends.

Funmi Fadoju arrived at goal defence with Fran Williams moving back to keeper, while Eleanor Cardwell shifted out to goal attack and Liv Tchine was handed the shooter bib.

Once the She Cranes had levelled the match at 19 goals apiece, Fadoju gave her home crowd what they were looking for. It was the teenager's pressure on the shot that created a vital turnover and after quick work through court, her London Pulse team-mate Tchine converted at the other end.

England consolidated the goal to press two-up again before going into the half-time interval just one up, 24-23 ahead.

The half-time break saw Thirlby continue to change her line-up, clearly wanting to see what some of her younger players were able to do under scoreboard pressure.

Zara Everitt arrived at wing defence, Hannah Joseph at wing attack and the shooting circle changed too. Cardwell had taken a knock during the second quarter, which might have impacted the decision to rest her and re-introduce Drakeford-Lewis alongside Tchine.

A settled Uganda side remained composed and worked hard as the home crowd increased in volume. Everitt, one of a number of London Pulse players enjoying being on their home court, rewarded their support with multiple early turnovers.

Williams constantly added to the tally too and in the attacking goal third, the Roses injected speed and precision to their work as Joseph looked in early and looked to stake her claim on the wing attack bib.

A 19-10 quarter in their favour enabled England to approach the final quarter with a good deal of confidence and a 10-goal advantage. The team weren't able to deliver quite as efficiently as they did during the third quarter, however, they worked hard until the full-time whistle with Ellie Ratu gaining court time at centre too.

The final Test will still present significant opportunities for players to stake a claim in an England dress with a World Cup coming up next year and Thirlby saying pre-match that all individuals still had opportunities to press their case to be part of the group that heads to Australia for a series later this month.

The third Test is live on Sky Sports on Sunday afternoon, coverage starts at 1.30pm with the first centre pass at 2pm.

Thirlby: I couldn't be prouder of the effort

Following the second Test, head coach Thirlby was quick to acknowledge the achievement of her side in securing the series ahead of the final contest in London.

"Uganda are such a talented side and I think we're forgetting the task that we put to this team," she said to Sky Sports.

"It's a home series, a young team with five debutants and to have gained a series win on home soil, I couldn't be prouder of the effort and commitment they've shown this week and we've got another opportunity.

"To know that we've won the series, we should just pause and acknowledge what they've done."

England's final Test against Uganda will take place on the same court at the Copper Box Arena and Thirlby has indicated she will look at the personnel she uses for it.

"As I've said before, you shouldn't give caps away easily, but I think we've demonstrated that we're trying to think purposefully around some of the changes," the head coach noted.

"We've got a team of 14 with us here so we'll look at that and see how we might want to play with the squad or tinker it slightly. The starting line-up in the second Test showed we don't gift people court time easily and we saw some great injection again from the bench."

Watch the third Test between England and Uganda live on Sky Sports Arena and Mix on Sunday. Coverage starts at 1.30pm with a first centre pass at 2pm.