Silver Ferns Kelly Jackson (L) with team mates Karin Burger (C) and Kate Heffernan celebrate their win. © Copyright image by Marty Melville / www.photosport.nz Photo: Marty Melville
Just three days after dropping to third in the world rankings, the Silver Ferns responded in the best possible way by beating the world number one Australian Diamonds.
Against all expectations the Silver Ferns upset Australia 64-50 in the first Test of the Constellation Cup series in Wellington last night.
The win was built on a sharp attacking display and dogged defence and was the Silver Ferns biggest win over Australia in 14 years.
The Diamonds have now lost their last seven Tests against the Silver Ferns on New Zealand soil.
England leapfrogged New Zealand to second in the world rankings last week following their recent 2-1 series win over the Silver Ferns, who were expected to struggle against Australia.
But Silver Ferns coach Dame Noeline Taurua said she knew last night's performance was coming.
"We've always had it, it's just the time for us to find our feet. Ball possession was a big one for us, I thought that was a major shift.
"It's an amazing tussle against Australia and we always know that they are going to bring it and be tough and for us to hold the momentum and not get three down or four down, which we did against England, is really confidence building for us," Dame Noeline said.
Silver Ferns captain Ameliaranne Ekenasio (R) wins possession ahead of Australia's Courtney Bruce during the first Constellation Cup Test in Wellington. Photo: photosport
Silver Ferns captain Ameliaranne Ekenasio echoed her coach's thoughts.
"We actually have always had it in training so it was really frustrating in that last series to not have it out on court so I think for us it was actually just getting it out court, what's been happening in training so that just feels like something to really celebrate," Ekenasio said.
"We've been really focussed on the outcome and focussed on some structures and stuff like that but in reality what we really had to do is play for each and have each others backs and I think that's what you saw.
"We worked really really hard, talked about that a lot and actioned it out there every opportunity that we've got so that was just an enjoyable game to play."
Australian Diamonds coach Stacey Marinkovich said she wasn't surprised by how well the Silver Ferns played.
"No to be honest, it's probably what you would think their absolute potential is, the way in which they defended they were really aggressive …and in attack they went direct and they held possession. We weren't surprised but we just weren't on song tonight," she said.
Dame Noeline was pleased with how connected her players were and said having an extended camp following the England series definitely helped.
"It's great when we have time together, sometimes we don't have time and we have three days and we're on a first Test. So we had camp and that was really valuable for us just to build the connections but get the strategy right," Dame Noeline said.
The Silver Ferns also had practice games against the New Zealand men's team and NZA in the build-up.
The midcourt connection with the shooters was the major issue that came out of the England series but last night's midcourt effort was one of the sharpest in a long time.
Silver Ferns Grace Nweke (L) with Australia's Courtney Bruce during the Constellation Cup - New Zealand Silver Ferns v Australia Diamonds at TSB Photo: photosport
Kimiora Poi and Maddy Gordon were able to get the ball to shooter Grace Nweke quickly.
It was a commanding performance by Nweke, scoring 50 goals against the world's toughest defenders at 94 percent accuracy.
It came as a bit of a surprise when Poi was named to start at wing attack but the 26-year-old had one of the best games of her international career.
Marinkovich tested three different opponents on Poi, but her speed was even too much at times for the uncompromising Jamie-Lee Price.
"She's [Kimiora] got a massive engine …for her to get that game and know she can get a lot of confidence out of it and also the unit how strong it was."
Test two is in Auckland on Wednesday, before the series heads to Australia for the final two tests.
The Diamonds are notorious for coming back with a vengeance after a loss but Ekenasio said they could meet the challenge.
"I'm actually not really worried about it to be honest, I think that we've got the ability too. It's a confidence building game for us," Ekenasio said.
"But we will go away and everybody knows what Australia is like within our group. But I think the thing is that they don't entirely know what we're like because we are in a phase where we are really finding our feet so I'm actually just really looking forward to it … we have the ability to go up another gear."
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