Silver Ferns open crossover stage with win over Wales

On the back of adversity, the Silver Ferns were quick to adopt a business as usual approach when delivering a powerful 83-34 win over Wales at the Netball World Cup in Cape Town on Monday.

Needing to consolidate their attack end after being dealt the massive blow of losing shooting ace Grace Nweke for the rest of the tournament with a knee injury, the Silver Ferns ran with Maia Wilson to anchor the goal shoot role for the first three-quarters.

Not missing a beat, Wilson turned on a masterclass with a faultless shooting return to record a perfect 49 from 49 shots.

Te Paea Selby-Rickit took over for the final quarter to give the Silver Ferns plenty of positive options to fill the void left by Nweke in a fine all-round team performance.

Travelling reserve Tiana Metuarau was ushered into the playing 12 for the remainder of the showpiece event, quickly getting a taste of World Cup action when taking the court with five minutes remaining of the third quarter at goal attack and scoring with her first touch of the ball.

“I’m massively proud of what we put out there on court following the news of our young shooter Grace,” Silver Ferns captain Ameliaranne Ekenasio said.

“Our emotions were high, we had to channel that emotion and play for her. Also bringing Tiana in was massive, we were clear in what we wanted to do and I think we did it. So, we just have to grow again.”

Wales made a positive start with the long bomb into 1.96m shooter Georgia Rowe paying dividends while the experienced heads of Ekenasio and Gina Crampton eased the Silver Ferns attacking line into their work.

It didn’t take long for the Silver Ferns to burst into life, the majestic Ekenasio and Wilson excelling with their movement and positioning in the goal circle, the rest of the team also rising while adding a clinical edge to their overall play.

The defensive pressure told on the Welsh as the Silver Ferns skipped into a 19-8 lead at the first break.

It was more of the same on the resumption, the Silver Ferns bolting out to an 8-0 start, the defensive prowess of Kate Heffernan, Karin Burger, Phoenix Karaka and Kelly Jury, playing her 50th Test, providing a brick wall resistance.

On attack, the speed and accuracy through court was seamless, leaving Wales, who made multiple changes, unable to stem the flow. An impressive Wilson kept a clean sheet through the first half converting all 29 of her attempts as the Silver Ferns bolted into the main break with a 40-16 lead.

After missing the previous match with a calf knock, Whitney Souness was back in the action when replacing Crampton at wing attack for the second half, while Jury moved from the custodian’s position to wing defence, Burger moved to goal defence while Jane Watson took over at goalkeeper.

The changes did nothing to detract from the Silver Ferns performance with the team delivering their most productive spell, 25 goals, while restricting Wales to their lowest return of just six. In dominant mode it was all the Silver Ferns, who went to the last turn with a healthy 65-22 advantage.

There was a Kiwi flavour in the opposition’s ranks, with Steel coach Reinga Bloxham lending her skills to the Wales Feathers in a specialist coach role.

After playing four games in four days, the Silver Ferns have a rest day tomorrow allowing time to regroup before the tough challenges of South Africa (Thursday, 4am NZT) quickly followed by Jamaica (Thursday, 9pm NZT).