Photo: PHOTOSPORT
The Silver Ferns will meet England in the semi-finals of the Netball World Cup in South Africa on Saturday with plenty to ponder.
New Zealand lost their final cross over match to Jamaica 59-48 last night to finish second in their group.
Just before that the Roses upset favourites Australia 56-55 on the other side of the draw, so the Diamonds and Jamaica will battle it out in the other semi-final.
Meeting England in the semis was always the favourable course for New Zealand and they will be glad to avoid a wounded Australia.
England will be buoyed by their performance against Australia, but the Silver Ferns will probably fancy their chances more against the Roses, having beaten them in their previous two encounters.
Despite a draw against the hosts two days ago, New Zealand finished ahead of South Africa on goal percentage.
New Zealand's Maia Wilson and Jamiaca's Shamera Sterling. Netball Semi Final. Jamaica v New Zealand Silver Ferns. Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. Saturday 6 August 2022. © Photo: Andrew Cornaga / www.photosport.nz Photo: Andrew Cornaga/www.photosport.nz
The Silver Ferns have a rest day tomorrow and will have a lot to think about after going toe to toe with Jamaica, before losing the last quarter by nine goals.
New Zealand netball fans saw glimpses of what they pictured the Silver Ferns doing at this tournament, with Karin Burger and Kate Heffernan pulling off some stunning intercepts.
Jane Watson and Burger worked hard to eke out turnovers as they often double defended super shooter Jhaniele Fowler.
Coming up against arguably the world's best goal keeper was always going to be a big challenge for Maia Wilson and she held her own for most parts.
In fact in the first half she had Shamera Sterling a little rattled, which led to the frustrated defender getting a warning.
Six offensive contacts across the game hurt the Silver Ferns big time and could be disastrous in a tight game.
After making several changes during the first five Tests, Silver Ferns coach Dame Noeline Taurua made only two changes to her starting line-up in the last few minutes.
Whitney Souness Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Gina Crampton, the Silver Ferns starting wing attack since 2019, was not used at all against Jamaica.
Whitney Souness was given the WA bib, as she was near the end of the second quarter in their last game against South Africa.
Dame Noeline said she was constantly weighing up whether to bring Crampton on at some stage.
"There were a few temptations that were happening during the game and then something happened that actually settled it ...we were thinking about changes right throughout the match."
Towering defender Kelly Jury played a full game at wing defence but the Silver Ferns coach said putting her back to her more familiar position of goal keep was always an option.
"When we looked at yesterday in our stats both Karin and Jane were turning over the ball on the in-circle, Kelly hasn't been.
"Height is good when you're going toe for toe but also you've got to be able to get ball so that's probably the difference at the moment.
"But I thought we turned over enough ball in our defensive end just go to make sure we take it through."
Elle Cardwell (left) has been a revelation for England over the past few years. Photo: Photosport
Dame Noeline said there were some recurring themes.
"Soft hands at certain times, our ability to split the circle ...I still think we're getting enough ball defensively, our turnover to score needs to be better and have more purpose in our driving movement."
Captain Ameliaranne Ekenasio said they had control when they had ball in hand for the majority of the match.
"There were just a couple of moments where we just let it slip ...we knew we couldn't play into their hands, we knew we couldn't let the long slow high ball go.
"It's just when we went away from that was when we made the mistakes ...we were in it until we just let ourselves down a little bit but actually for most of it I was real proud on our intent to stick to our game plan.
"In that fourth quarter they definitely lifted I think we lost a couple of centre passes in a row ...we were caught reacting a little bit, which we know we can't do we know we have to be prepared nice and early so we can demand more of each other," Ekenasio said.
The Silver Ferns meet England at 9pm on Saturday before, Australia and Jamaica square off early Sunday morning.
