The Home Nations Cup once again signed off the 2025/26 season in the most memorable way. Netballers from across the UK showcased their incredible talent to see if they had what it took to be crowned our 2026 champions.

 

Primary Competition

This was the first time in the event's history that ENG ran a primary version of this event. We had players as young as ten representing their countries, and this competition was all about providing an experience that will help accelerate their progress and desire to take their netball to the next level.

The first game of the event saw the favourites, England, take on Wales. The England team was a young squad and went up against a more experienced Wales side. In the opening exchanges, England struggled against Wales' tall shooting circle, but stayed competitive up until half-time. After half-time, Wales stretched their lead further and set down the challenge as the team to beat.

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Northern Ireland had to come from 4-0 down in the first quarter to defeat Scotland in their opening game. After a slow start, Northern Ireland had an incredible second quarter to turn the game around and lead at half-time. Going into the third and fourth quarters, Scotland stayed hot on the heels of Northern Ireland, but in the end, Northern Ireland got a well-deserved win.

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England defeated Scotland in Round 2 to get their first win of the campaign, and this meant they set up a showdown against Northern Ireland to see who would qualify for the final, after Wales cemented their place in the final with a win over Northern Ireland.

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Wales finished off the group stages in style after a comprehensive win over Scotland. England and Northern Ireland, though, had to play each other in what was a must-win for both teams. A strong start by England meant Northern Ireland were chasing the game early on, but they maintained a competitive edge to their performance that meant England could never relax and had to work for their win. Even though it was a loss for Northern Ireland, they earned themselves the bronze medal.

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The final saw Wales take on England, and England had learned the lessons of the previous fixture and made it alot harder for Wales to feed their circle, and the score was 6-4 to Wales after the first quarter. In the second, Wales had more success getting down the court and opened up a five-point lead at the halfway stage. It was important for England to stay in the game, and in the third they tried so hard to break the Wales defence, but once again fell two more goals behind and were seven down going into the final eight minutes. In the final quarter, England put up a good fight and drew this quarter, but it was Wales who won the game and became our first-ever Primary Home Nations Cup Champions.

 

Results

England (20) Vs Wales (13)

Northern Ireland (21) Vs Scotland (16)

England (24) Vs Scotland (6)

Wales (25) Vs Northern Ireland (19)

England (24) Vs Northern Ireland (15)

Wales (29) Vs Scotland (11)

 

Final

Wales (20) Vs England (13)

 

Junior Finals

England came into this event as back-to-back champions of the Junior Finals and started the competition against Wales, who they defeated the previous season in an unforgettable final. This season was different, with England winning their opening game against last season’s runners-up in emphatic style.

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Scotland got their campaign underway with a dominant win over Northern Ireland. They had never finished higher than third in this competition, and this was a great start for them to potentially reach their highest position ever.

In Round 2 of the Group Stages, Scotland was going to find out how far they had come as a team since the 2025 event when they took on England. A slow start, though, meant Scotland had a mountain to climb early on in the game against England, and it ended up losing the gam heavily. The only blessing in disguise from this game was that they had the chance to right their wrong if they reached the final. In the other game, Wales set up a blockbuster finale against Scotland as they defeated Northern Ireland in their second game.

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England finished off the group stages with a win over Northern Ireland, but we had a huge game between Scotland and Wales to see which country would play in the final against England. The game started quite competitively, but Scotland edged the first quarter, leading 6-3. In the second quarter, Scotland increased their lead by a point and continued to build it, looking likely to proceed to the final heading into the final quarter. In the final quarter, Wales staged a mini comeback to bring the game back within three points, but Scotland stayed calm and won the game 19-16 to qualify for their first-ever Home Nations Cup Final.

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Scotland played England in the final, and this was the best-ever position Scotland had reached across all age groups. In their first game against England, they were well beaten; it was going to be interesting to see if they learnt from the mistakes made in the previous game.

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It was a better start from Scotland in this game, and initially the game was goal for goal. Once England found their rhythm, they pulled away, but at times the Scotland defence held strong and forced England into mistakes they didn’t make in the first game. Scotland were moving the ball up the court well and could have reduced the deficit, but finding that killer pass into the shooting circle was proving difficult.

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England then went from strength to strength in each quarter, and the challenge was too tough for Scotland in the end. England went on to win their third Junior Home Nations Cup, and Scotland finished in their highest position ever.

 

Results

Wales (29) Vs Northern Ireland (10)

England (37) Vs Scotland (12)

England (45) Vs Northern Ireland (5)

Scotland (19) Vs Wales (16)

Scotland (40) Vs Northern Ireland (10)

England (26) Vs Wales (9)

 

Final

England (32) Vs Scotland (10)

 

Senior Finals

Wales came into this as the current champions and retained the majority of their team from last season. Their first game in their title defence was against England, and what a game it was.

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The opening quarter was evenly matched, and both teams held onto their centre pass to draw the first quarter 8-8. The second quarter saw Wales edge ahead and went into half-time 16-13 ahead. The third quarter was pivotal for both sides, and Wales continued to lead and held on to their three-point lead heading into the final eight minutes. In the final quarter, England managed to turn the game around and lead by one point with seconds to go. A feed into the circle by Wales led to a penalty shot after the buzzer, but they failed to score, and England won the opening game by one point.

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Scotland won their opening game against Northern Ireland and started the game against England on the front foot, going 7-3 ahead within the first five minutes. Like the first game, England had to react, and they did, levelling the game 8-8 at the end of the first quarter. Going into the second quarter, Scotland may have felt they missed a huge opportunity to pull further in front, as England pulled ahead in the second and continued to lead in every other quarter. In the end, it was a comprehensive England win, but after such a good start, maybe an opportunity missed for Scotland.

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Wales defeated Northern Ireland and played Scotland in the deciding game to determine who would play England in the final. What should have been a competitive game ended up with Wales comprehensively winning to set up a blockbuster final against England.

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The final saw Wales take an early lead in the first quarter, going into the second quarter 7-6 up. In the second quarter, England came out determined not to let Wales pull further ahead and turned the game around to lead at half-time 13-11.

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In the third quarter, Wales started positively and brought the game within one point. They then turned the ball over and could have levelled the game, but the shot was missed, and England managed to breathe a sigh of relief. From this point, England went from strength to strength and turned the ball over on each Wales attack with ease. To cap off another strong quarter, Racquel Steyn instinctively fed Harleen Saraw with seconds to go, and Harleen instinctively scored an incredible goal to put one hand on the Home Nations Cup trophy for England.

 

The final quarter saw Erin Dunn pushed up the court for Wales, and all of a sudden the Wales shooting circle was being found more often. England though stayed strong mentally, and when it looked like Wales were creeping back into the game, they responded to keep them at arm's length. As the seconds ticked away, Wales kept pushing and brought the game back to four points, but it wasn’t going to be enough to stop England winning their first ever Senior Home Nations Cup. The game finished 28-24 to England.

 

Results

England (27) Vs Wales (26)

Scotland (35) Vs Northern Ireland (12)

England (35) Vs Scotland (23)

Wales (53) Vs Northern Ireland (5)

England (47) Vs Northern Ireland (9)

Scotland (13) Vs Wales (38)

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3rd/4th Play-Off

Scotland (25) Vs Northern Ireland (14)

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Final

England (28) Vs Wales (24)